Twist in Fate
by meburleson
Summary: This story starts out with the series during Season 3 Episode 8 "Glass Spider" then quickly goes into an Alternate Universe. One small "twist" will change everything. Will Annie lose herself? Will Auggie be able to help her through the most difficult time of her life? Or will he lose her?
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Greetings all. This is my first attempt at writing a story related to television characters. This prologue was originally going to be in chapter 2, but I changed the components of chapter 2 completely and simplified into this prologue. I do not own Covert Affairs, Annie or Auggie.  
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Annie and Simon were standing in her sister's kitchen discussing their plans when someone silently entered uninvited behind them. Neither of them heard the shots, the silencer on the intruder's weapon made sure of that. Simon went down first with two shots to the chest. Annie saw him go down and took a shot to the chest just before she twisted around toward the kitchen counter where the knife block rested. She took another shot to the back before collapsing to the floor.


	2. Call 9-1-1

Annie's eyes opened as an intense pain shot through her core. She instinctively tried to locate the pain only to discover a gunshot to her chest. _What the hell?_ She thought trying to remember what had happened, but her mind was simply fuzzy. She tried to pick herself off the floor, but she didn't seem to have the strength or ability.

Annie could feel herself losing a lot of blood, she weakened by the minute. She wasn't clear on what happened at that moment only that she was in a pool of her own blood. But she couldn't move. She wasn't sure why. Her only guess was that her body was in shock. She laid there for a moment resting her head on the crook of her arm catching her breath. Finally she mustered up enough energy to find her phone from her right pant pocket. She put as much pressure as she could handle on the hole in her chest, crying out in pain as she hit the speed dial button for Mingus. She hoped he was not still asleep or in the shower.

Seconds later she was relieved to hear his rough, half asleep voice answer "hello?"

_Thank you God!_ Annie thought when she heard Auggie's voice. Trying not to sound too frantic she simply stated as plainly as she could. "Auggie, I'm in trouble. I need help."

Hearing the urgency in her voice sent chills up his spine, immediately alert now, he sat straight up in the bed and collected his thoughts.

"What's wrong Annie?"

"I need an ambulance to my house immediately."

Concern laced his reply "Already dialing from another phone, can you hold on second?"

Annie could barely hear him talking to the 9-1-1 operator. Pain surged through her like hot coals as she tried to continue putting pressure on the wound in her chest. Her mind still would not let her access the memories of what had happened. How long had she been laying there, seconds? minutes? hours? By the wound in her chest, she could not imagine it had been that long. She could feel herself loosing grip on reality. She would be unconscious soon.

She tried not to let Auggie hear her pain, but she knew him well enough to know he would know it one way or another. Auggie was a master at detecting even subtle emotional changes in her voice. He had an acute sense of hearing that came from his lack of eyesight.

She suddenly saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head slightly and realized it was another body and lifted her head to see that it was Simon. She didn't know if he was hurt. She couldn't see much from where she was laying. Weakly she replied "Hurry. Please!"

Hearing the pain and desperation coming from her he tried everything he could to distract her from what every pained her while still getting the information he needed. "Annie, stay with me. What happened?"

A wave of nausea came over her, then a blinding dizziness as she tried, once again, to move with little success. Annie was starting to panic. But tried to take a couple deep breaths to keep it from overwhelming her before replying to Auggie, "Shot... Lot of blood. Simon... Agony..." she replied weakly, barely audible to even his well-trained ears.

A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit her. She couldn't breathe. She tried to take a deep breath, but her lungs didn't want to cooperate. Everything started going dark, she tried to hand on. She knew Simon needed her-if she could just get to him. Gasping for breath, her lungs did not seem to want to work. She tried to control her breathing knowing she couldn't stay conscious without it. She tried to focus on her breathing. Tried to move to see Simon and assess for more injuries.

Suddenly the panic started to envelope her completely. "Aug? I can't feel my..." was all that she could manage. She was barely whispering. She dropped the phone out of her hand and it lands beside her and then she went quiet-leaving Auggie frantic.

Alarmed by the sudden thud he began almost shouting at his phone. "What can't you feel, Walker (?)? Annie? Annie! Hang on for me, please! They are in route to you!" His pleas fell on deaf ears as Annie lie unconscious on her kitchen floor.

_Please don't let her die, God, please don't!_ Auggie thought to himself as he pushed the phone in his pocket and began rushing carefully around his apartment preparing for what he knew would be a long day. As he raced through the door, cane in hand, he called the only person he could think to call-Joan Campbell.

Auggie was about to arrive at Georgetown University Hospital forty-five minutes after Annie's call. He knew this was the closest hospital to where Annie's sister lived in Georgetown and this would be the most likely place for them to take her. As he was about to get out of the cab his phone begin ringing in his pocket. _What now?! I don't have time for this._ He groaned to himself, forcing himself to answer despite his unwillingness to do so.

"August Anderson" he stated flatly as he emerged from the cab to stand off to the side of the entrance of the emergency room. He knew cell phone use was discouraged in the hospital.

"Mr. Anderson? This is Melissa from Georgetown University Hospital. We have a Anne Walker just brought in. We have you listed as her emergency contact."

Caught off guard by the speed in which they were about to identify Annie and get her information, he let himself breath for a second and stopped pacing the sidewalk. _If they already had her name and contact information, maybe that meant she was conscious when she arrived and wasn't as bad off as he was originally fearing. _He thought to himself. "Yes thank you for the call. I was actually about to walk into the hospital when you called. Where should I come?"

"Just wait in the fourth floor waiting room, a doctor will be informed that you are there and come see you when they know something more."

He made his way to the fourth floor and asked a nurse there where the waiting room was. He sat in a chair close to the door and was grateful that there seemed to be no one there, at least no one making any noise. He put his arms on his thighs, leaned forward and put his head in his hands. He could not stop the tears any longer. His best friend was in the hospital and he didn't know if she was going to make it or if he would loose her.

**Author's Note: Chapter one complete, what do you think?**


	3. The Wait

Hours passed without any word from anyone from the hospital. Maybe things were worse than he thought. He checked with the receptionist frequently to make sure they knew he was there and who he was there to see. He always got basically the same reply "There is no news yet. A doctor will come out when they have something to report."

He called Joan to let her know there was no news to report yet. Concern laced his boss' voice as she told him to keep her updated and to call her anytime. She informed him of what the police found when they found Annie and Simon as well as what Lena had told them about Annie's operation with Simon. Neither he nor Annie currently worked under Joan, but she was his mentor and more importantly friend that he had known since joining the agency. She had vouched for him after his accident and made she he had a job to come back to when he was able. Now Joan couldn't believe that Annie could be a traitor and Auggie of course agreed with her whole heartily.

Auggie debated on calling Annie's sister Danielle, but quite frankly didn't know what to tell her. Right now, he only knew that she was there at the hospital and had been for hours. He did not know the extent of her injuries, how much longer surgery would be, or well, even if she was still alive. He had no news to report to her other than there had been an incident. He would also have to wait for Joan to okay someone non-CIA related to know anything about what had happened to Annie. It would be his responsibility to help Annie come up with a cover story. But first, he needed to know the _real_ story. He couldn't believe his best friend was a traitor or that she was trying to run away.

Waiting anxiously, pacing in the waiting room, he was grateful that he was alone. There had been a couple in the room earlier waiting for a family member to come out of surgery. When they first arrived, he wanted to continue his pacing, but knew it was unwise. While it was clear by the white cane still unfurled in his hand that he was blind, he did not know that they would stay out of his way while he paced. He knew that they had watched him intently. He could feel their stares and he hated the pity that their stares brought to him. Sitting down with his cane folded between his leg and the chair, he sat for at least an hour and a half with his hands rested on the chair arms and head back against the wall. He closed his eyes and assumed they thought he was asleep. But of course, that was not possible for Auggie. He could not sleep while his best friend, he assumed, fought for her life.

After the couple left, he began his pacing around the room again. He hoped they would come tell him something soon. Checking his watch, it was 3pm. He had missed breakfast and lunch and his body was growing weak with hunger and thirst. But there was no way he was leaving. He knew Annie would do the same for him. Despite their recent new job placements and therefore inability to see each other as often as they once did, Annie was still one of the most important people in his life. Perhaps _the _most important. That thought started to make Auggie think that perhaps there could be more to their relationship than just friendship. But before he would think too deeply on the subject someone entered the room.

"Anyone here for Anne Walker?" said an unnamed, faceless female.

"I am." Auggie stated simply as he pulled his messenger bag above his head and shook the thoughts from his head.

"Come with me sir, the doctor needs to see you now"

Auggie made his way to where the person just spoke from. She surprised him by grabbing his arm and trying to pull him forward with her. He stood steadfast against her pulling him. He could feel the annoyance permeating from her as she turned to him.

"Sir, do you want to see the doctor and find out about your friend?"

"Of course I do, but would you not pull me around like that. I am perfectly capable of walking by myself, and if I need you to guide me since I don't know where I am going, I will either accept an offered elbow or ask you to offer an elbow to help me. Pulling me sets me off balance and results in an inability to walk normally. Simply don't run me in to anything, let me fall, or forget to tell me where stairs or doorways are."

"Oh, okay." She said sheepishly. "Well, please, allow me to guide you to where you need to be."

Awkwardly, Auggie found the person, who he assumed was a volunteer, and took her arm just above her elbow, keeping his cane held diagonally in front of his body. There was no way he trusted her without it. She walked very slowly at first, but picked up to an almost normal pace when she realized that he was right with her and was not completely fragile.

After many turns through the corridors of the hospital, Auggie's mind was trying to concentrate hard on the steps he was taking, turns he was making, and sounds he was hearing as they made their way to where, he hoped Annie was. When they finally stopped, the women who was guiding him knocked on a door. Hearing the person inside tell them to enter, he placed his hand on the door and found the knob as the women he was with did the same. Understanding that she was no longer needed, she excused herself.

Auggie opened the door to the room and stood there for a moment making sure that his cane was held predominantly in his hand.

"May I help you?" the doctor's voice asked.

"Yes sir, I am Annie Walker's emergency contact. I was told there was news on her condition. I have been waiting for hours."

"I'm sorry sir, I did not know you were blind. I could have came to the waiting room to prevent you from having to come all the way here, but it might be for the best."

"Sir? Why would that be best?"

"Annie is currently in ICU and will be for a while, my office is much closer to ICU than the surgery waiting room is. Now, you are August Anderson, I presume?"

"Yes sir, but my friends call me Auggie, you may do the same"

"Auggie, there is a chair about three paces to your left, you will want to sit down as I tell you everything that Annie has experienced today." Auggie followed the doctor's instruction and quickly found a chair. He did not want to sit, but he had a feeling the news he was about to receive was not good and he might need the chair's support.

"First of all, what do you know of the events that took place to get Annie here today?"

"I only know that she called me about 5 o'clock this morning, stated she needed an ambulance, I think she said something about being shot. I wonder now why she didn't call 9-1-1 herself." The last part had meant to have been more to himself until he realized he had verbalized it.

"Mr. Anderson, Annie was shot, twice. Once in the chest and once in the lower back. We had the tricky job of stopping the bleeding, trying to remove the bullets from her body, especially around her heart and fixing the wounds so that she does not continue to loose blood. We have repaired what we can for now, but we know we will have to do at least one more surgery on her back to remove the bullet fragments from around her spine. We will have to wait until we see how well her heart heals before we can do any more surgery. We won't know until she wakes up, but she could be paralyzed. Right now she is in a medically induced coma. We have a breathing tube in. We will keep her in the coma for at least a day so that her heart can have time to rest. We are also doing a blood transfusion as well. The next 72 hours are critical. If her heart can't get the rest it needs and start healing, then she may not survive."

"Can I see her?" is all that Auggie could manage to say at the moment.

"If by see, you mean touch her body to explore the extent of her injuries, I'd rather you didn't. I can have a nurse show you around the room, what everything is, and how it connects to Ms. Walker in a few hours if that will help you."

"I understand, I will not do my usual exploring. Can I sit next to her and hold her hand then?"

"Yes, of course. I will take you there myself."

"Thank you doctor."

Auggie stood up and got his cane ready to follow the doctor to Annie's room. The doctor rubbed his right hand over Auggie's left hand to left him know he was willing to be his sighted guide and Auggie grasped arm just above the elbow and followed him through the corridors of the hospital. He once again found himself struggling to keep up with the number of paces he was taking or when they turned. His mind was not concentrating on anything except Annie. He knew he would need assistance getting anywhere while he stayed here.

Once to Annie's room, he was lead to a chair near her bed. Before he left, the doctor placed Auggie's hand on Annie's and Auggie settled into the chair, sliding it as close to the bed as he could. He knew that he would be spending the next few days in this chair. For now, he did the only thing he could do-he held onto Annie's hand. He listened as the machine next to him breathed for Annie. He listened as the heart monitor indicated a heart beat. It was not strong, but it was steady. For now, all he could do was hold her hand and listen to the machines keeping her with him. For now that would have to be enough.

All Auggie had was Annie's hand to focus on. He dared not move too much as he knew she was in a fragile state. He knew that she would wake up. She had to. He couldn't lose his best friend. He couldn't lose Annie. She was his reason for waking up in the morning, for going to work, for staying up all hours of the night to keep her safe, she was everything to him. But why had it taken such a tragedy for him to realize it? Would he get the chance to tell her how he feels? Would she accept him back? Or would it ruin their friendship? Either way, he had to tell her how he felt. And he would, as soon as she woke up.

The next two days Annie remained unchanged. The doctor's had taken her off the medicine that kept her in a coma after a day and a half, but they didn't except her to wake up for 12-18 hours. Auggie only left her side to use the restroom and to talk to Joan in the hallway as she brought him news, food, or clothes to change into. She wanted to insist that he go home to shower and rest in his own bed, but she knew he wouldn't. Annie's life was on the line and her career was in jeopardy if she survived.

The third day, Auggie woke to the startling sound of the heart monitor flat lining. As quick as he could, he ran to the door and called for a nurse. As multiple nurses and doctors entered, he stepped to the side out of the way, knowing that her life was in their hands. All he could do was wait to see if they could save her.

**Author's Note: Chapter 2 complete. Perhaps too long? What do you think? **


	4. It was All a Dream

It was a perfect cloudless morning. She had been walking for hours, what started out as a morning job to get some exercise, ended up being a long leisurely walk along the beach for miles. She was heading back to her starting point, but still had a few miles to go. Annie was allowing the ocean to wash over her feet every few minutes as she enjoyed the sun shining on her face. Occasionally she would stop, pick up an ocean treasure, examine it and decide whether to keep it or throw it back in the ocean. The keepers she would stow in her small tote bag that was over her shoulder. The bag had started out on a small keychain, but when unfolded revealed a nice sized bag perfect for collecting items on the beach. She could not be happier or more relaxed than she was right now.

About half a mile from her starting point, she saw Simon running towards her. They had been in St. Martin for three days. It seemed too good to be true that they could have a vacation together without one of their agencies finding them. Now it seemed to Annie that their time was up. She started quickening her pace towards him dreading whatever bad news he would obviously have.

Upon reaching him, he quickly and wordlessly picked her up bridal style and began jogging with her in his arms back to the house that Simon had outright bought for their vacation. Sometimes, his illegal activities had their advantages, such as having seemingly unlimited cash on hand at all times.

She tried to question his motives as her carried her towards their vacation home, but he said nothing, only smiled and continue steadily jogging the short distance to the house, carrying her effortlessly. Upon reaching their home, he deposited her on the porch before grabbing the blindfold from the nearby chair. At first she was hesitant to allow him to blindfold her, but she was excited curious about what was happening. Despite all her instincts telling her to resist, she complied and allowed him to blindfold her. Then he grabbed her hands and walked her into the home they had been sharing. She knew the layout well, so she knew that she was being lead into the entrance way, through the living room and into the dining room. They had not used this room since arriving, so she was intrigued what they might be doing there.

Upon allowing her other senses to heighten, she smelled various fruits, chocolate, and perhaps cheese. She also smelled flowers. She couldn't identify them by smell alone, but she could tell there were multiple types. She heard soft classical music playing somewhere to her left. She heard water trickling somewhere nearby, perhaps a fountain. She was guided to a soft plush chair she knew was placed around the dining room table that they had never used. She sat down and allowed Simon to push her chair under for her. The anticipation was killing her. When she had observed him running towards her and the beach, she had just known that he was coming to tell her they had to leave immediately. Now it seemed he had something romantic planned for her.

He gently caressed her neck and kissed her gently from behind causing her to slightly shiver in response at the unexpected affection. Finally, he seductively whispered in her ear from behind her "Sweetheart, you can remove the blindfold now."

She did as she was told, slowly removing the blindfold, keeping her eyes closed until she placed the cloth on the table in front of her. As she opened her eyes she was speechless at what she saw. Before her was a spread of various fruits, cheeses, and three different melted chocolate pots over flames to keep them melted. There were candles everywhere, as well as blue and gold vases of flowers everywhere. In the foreground of the dining room was a huge, gorgeous fountain trickling water peacefully. Around the room there were flower petals all over the floor, every shape, size, color, and variety imaginable represented among the petals. The serving dishes, plates, and silverware were all top quality. Solid white, except for two thin lines around the rim of the plate, one gold and the other dark blue. They were gorgeous. Everything was perfect, including the man sitting to her left.

Suddenly, she realized there was a third plate at the table in addition to the two in front of her and Simon. She began to feel uneasy with the realization that they would be sharing their romantic meal with another person, but who could be joining them? They had met no neighbors, neither of them had been here before (a stipulation to their particular location being chosen), and they had both vowed to turn off their cell phones for the duration of the trip. They were off the map and had no ties to anyone at the moment, or so she thought.

As she was about to ask about the mystery guest joining them, there was a knock at the door. She turned to get up and answer it. But Simon stopped her.

"I've got it sweetheart. Please close your eyes and wait for our guest to be seated. I want you to be surprised. If you need to, put your blindfold back on."

Annie honestly didn't think she could will herself to voluntarily keep her eyes closed while the mystery person came in, so she placed the blindfold over her eyes and Simon went in behind her and tied it securely. After checking that she indeed could not see, Simon made his way to the front door. Annie tired to listen carefully for any hint as to who the stranger might be. She heard the door open, but no one spoke, at least not that she could hear.

The footfalls of the stranger seemed vaguely familiar, but she could not quite place them. She heard the two sets of footsteps enter the entrance, then went through the living room, finally, they were in the room with her. She could smell this new person and knew it was someone she had been around before. Her gut told her that it had to be—but it couldn't be. He would never come here. How would he know where she was? How would he get here? She would have known for sure if it was him. He couldn't exactly sneak up on a person. She knew her instincts were wrong as the chair slide from under the table on her right and the mystery person, who she was now certain, was a man, sat down.

Anxiety was overwhelming Annie as she desperately wanted to know who had joined them, what they wanted, and why they were interrupting her very romantic brunch. She took a deep breath and slowly let the air out, trying to wait patiently for a signal that she could remove the blindfold.

Finally, Simon broke the deafening silence between them. Barely whispering "Sweetheart, you can remove the blindfold and greet our guest."

Before he had barely completed his sentence, the blindfold was untied and in her lap. She could not believe her eyes, she blinked a couple times to make sure what he saw was real. Sitting beside her, in the flesh, was none other than fellow operative, her former handler, and best friend—Auggie Anderson.

She screamed and pushed the chair from under the table and swung her arms around her best friend. She couldn't believe he was there. He looked tired, but had a broad smile across his face. She was so excited to see him. He held her close for a minute. She could feel herself blush as she realized Simon was watching them. Her heart began to race and suddenly she couldn't breath. She closed her eyes hoping the feeling would pass after a moment. All of a sudden she felt herself falling to the floor.

She opened her eyes and saw strangers all around her.

"We've got her back." A white coated nameless man stated sounding exhausted.

The nameless doctor spoke again, this time to her "Ms. Walker, you're in the hospital. You've been shot. You just gave us quite a scare. Don't try to talk, we have a breathing tube in. Just rest."

Annie was aware of many machines around her. She was laying flat on her back, her chest was tight and every inch of her was sore. She didn't dare try to move, she wasn't sure the extend of her injuries. She closed her eyes again and let the darkness of sleep take her away again. As the darkness enveloped her, she felt a familiar hand take hers. She knew immediately that it was Auggie. Auggie was there with her. She was going to be okay if Auggie was there. He always made sure she got home safely.

**Author's Note: So what do we think? This chapter and the last are sorta supposed to be going on at the same time. So Auggie is waiting while Annie dreams. Then they both end with Annie's heart stopping and being restarted. Is that clear? **


	5. Breakdown in Communication

**Author's Note: Here is chapter 4. Annie is in a semi-awake state, but how will she and Auggie communicate if she has a breathing tube in?**

**Let us see where this takes us. This was not originally part of my story when I outlined and started it, came to me later. Hope it works as well as I think it does.**

Auggie felt Annie's hand squeeze his hand hours after the early morning scare. He hated not being able to see her right now. She couldn't talk and he couldn't see her to know for sure whether she was awake or not. He squeezed her hand again and was satisfied when she moved her thumb to gently caress his palm. She was awake. He located the call button on her bed.

Moments later a nurse came into the room. "Well, look who's awake! Ms. Walker you've been through a lot young lady. Let me check that everything is connected correctly and that your bandages don't need changing while I'm here." Auggie could feel the nurse come near him, but he didn't want to move. If she asked, he would, but so far no one had made him move the entire time he had been there. He had sat through numerous dressing changes, IV swaps, and countless blood draws. The nurses knew not to disturb the blind man that insisted on holding Annie's hand. He only let go when they needed him to. As soon as they were finished, he would find his way to her hand again. He couldn't let go of her. She would know he wasn't giving up on her. He didn't know if she could hear him while in the coma, but she would know immediately when she woke up that he was there. He had been determined of it.

After the nurse changed her bandages and left, he wondered when they would take the breathing tube out. The nurse did not talk to Annie much. The nurse had asked if she was in any pain, if she knew where she was, and if she knew who was holding her hand. The nurse had told Annie to answer by blinking once for yes and blinking twice for no. While answering the nurse's questions, Annie had squeezed his hand once that she was in pain, once that she knew where she was, and once that she knew who was holding her hand. Even where she was and everything she was going through, Annie was still able to think about Auggie. Wordlessly and effortlessly giving him exactly what he needed.

Annie always did that for Auggie, she always thought about what would make things easier on him. He didn't have to say a word to her and it was never done because she "needed" him to, just because she wanted to. She was the only person in his life who seemed to accept his blindness effortlessly. His blindness was never a big deal to her. It just seemed to him that it was like the color of his hair or the way he walked. It was just part of who he was and not the defining disability that it was to most people.

"Annie, its me Auggie, I'm here. I'm right here." Annie squeezed his hand again and he took that as an acknowledgment that she understood. "Annie I don't know if you remember what happened and I'm not sure I have all the details myself. I just know that you and Simon were shot in your sister's kitchen three days ago. We aren't sure who did it yet. We were hoping you saw something that could help. Annie, they suspect you of treason. Lena says she has evidence. Joan and I don't believe it is true, we haven't for a moment." Annie squeezed my hand harder as I spoke. I was glad that she was communicating with me in the only way she could right now. I wish I could hear her voice.

"Annie, you rest, I'm going to find out what the doctors say is going on. I won't be gone long." At hearing this, Annie squeezed my hand harder. This told me she didn't want me to go, she wasn't letting go. I couldn't leave her. I would wait for the doctor to come to me. I started telling her about life as I knew it to be out side of the hospital while she was sleeping. I don't know this for sure since I can't see her, but Annie must be scared right now. Here she lay in a hospital bed, attached to machine that are breathing for her. I assume she fell back asleep after a while, I continued to talk to her about the current events in the world while she was out of it, the weather conditions, and rumors going on at work. I tried to avoid anything about Joan, Jai, Simon, Lena, and anything else DPD related. I couldn't be sure she was asleep, but I couldn't chance her being awake to here me say anything that might stress or worry her right now.

Annie, I need to use the bathroom." I whispered softly after a long time of just sitting. I gently lifted my hand from hers and went to the bathroom. While I came out, instead of going back to my chair beside her bed, I grabbed my cane from the table and went out into the hallway. I needed to call Joan to give her an update. But first, I needed an update myself.

I walked over to the nurses station and stood there until someone spoke to me.

"Mr. Anderson, its Melissa. What can I help you with?"

"Hi Melissa, I was hoping to get an update on Annie's condition and news on when the breathing tube can come out."

"Let me call her doctor and see if he is available to speak with you. I know he hasn't made his rounds yet today, but he has been updated on her awakening this morning. I can let him know that you are looking for him when I see him."

Auggie decided to take the opportunity to take a break from his vigil over Annie and get something to eat from the cafeteria. He knew the nurses had his number if anything happened. They had been quite good to him so far during Annie's time in the hospital. He trusted that they would let him know of any change.

I opened my eyes and tried to speak, but I couldn't. Something was blocking my airway. Then I saw the tube coming out of my mouth. I vaguely remembered someone saying something about a breathing tube and being shot. I moved my eyes around the room and saw Auggie sitting next to me with his head down. I squeezed his hand. He raised his head. I wonder if he will know that I'm awake. Had I been squeezing his hand while I slept? Auggie's hand was in mine, was that just his way of letting me know he was there?

Thankfully he squeezed my hand back. He looks so tired and the wrinkles on his face have deepened since I saw him last. How long was I asleep? What had happened? Auggie moved beside me, searching for the nurse call button perhaps. Sure enough, the bed beeping beside me told me that was what he was searching for.

A few minutes later, a nurse walked in. She looked me over, checked the IV and my bandages. Apparently they needed to be changed because she started removing bandages and getting more from a drawer beside me. I wish I knew what bandages she was changing and why. I only knew I smelled a lot of blood and there were a lot of bandages. I couldn't see much from how I was laying or around the tubes coming from my mouth. She told me she had some questions for me and that I should blink once if the answer was yes and twice if the answer was no.

"Do you know where you are?" I blinked once and squeezed Auggie's hand once to let him know my answer. I knew he would want to know the answers just as this nurse did.

"Are you in pain?" Again, I blinked once and simultaneously squeezed Auggie's hand once. As much as I hated to admit pain, this pain was excruciating. Concern fell upon Auggie's face as I admitted this. He knew me well enough to know that the pain had to be horrible for me to admit it

"Do you recognize the person holding your hand?" Well of course I did! He was my best friend. I almost forgot to blink. I blinked once and squeezed Auggie's hand. He seemed relieved with this answer.

I wanted so badly to ask the nurse what was going on and when this tube could come out of my throat. I couldn't stand watching Auggie beside me cursing his blindness as I knew he was. He rarely complained about his blindness, but I knew that in a time like this, it was harder on him than usual. I know he is here to comfort me, but I don't want him to worry unnecessarily. I'm awake and while not feeling great, I seem to be okay. I think. I'm so drugged right now, I really don't know how I am, but I know that I am.

**Author's Note: So what did you think? Next chapter later today. Then it will be a few before the next is up.**


	6. Fully Awake

**Author's Note: Annie is finally fully awake! Chapter 5 and 6 going up today.**

Finally, the doctor came in later that day she woke up to check on her. She had been awake for hours just holding Auggie's hand listening to him talk. He probably thought she was asleep, but since he couldn't be sure, he just talked. Sure, she could have slept while he talked, it didn't keep her awake, but she surprisingly wasn't tired right now. All she could think about was knowing what happened.

Currently, Auggie had left the room when the doctor came in. She imagined that he needed to stretch his legs. She knew that he had not been home since she arrived at the hospital. She hoped that now that she was awake he would go home to at least shower and get some sleep in his own bed.

"Okay, Ms. Walker, we're going to take the breathing tube out and see how you do breathing on your own. We expect you'll need some additional oxygen to help you out, but we still need to access how well you're lungs can do their job. You've been through quite a lot the past couple days and you've still got a long recovery before life will seem any sort of "normal" again. While the tube comes out, you're going to want to cough, you can, just not to hard. We don't want you re injuring yourself. Then we will do an exam to see how everything is healing."

As the doctor took the breathing tube out, Annie was relieved to be able to breath on her own again. After a few labored breaths breathing came slightly easier, but not much easier. She was surprised at how weakened she felt. "Breathing hurts" Annie croaked out quietly.

"That's normal. We will give you some oxygen for now, but at least you'll be breathing on your own. Try not to take breaths that are too deep, that will help. Your friend Mr. Anderson is out on the phone with someone named Joan, I believe he said. I updated him on your condition a few minutes ago. Your heart is repaired the best we could do for now. There is a lot of scar tissue around your heart that hopefully will not cause you any problems later. Let me look at your surgical wounds to see how they are healing and check you over."

The doctor removed the bandages from Annie's chest gently. After seeming to be satisfied with what he saw, he replaced the bandages with fresh gauze and then went down to Annie's feet. Suddenly, Annie began to feel uneasy. She had not noticed before, but she couldn't really feel her feet.

"Why can't I feel my feet an' legs?" Annie hoarsely stated.

"Noone has told you?" the doctor replied with concern. At this time the doctor was doing something to her feet. But whatever he was going she didn't feel.

"Told me what?" Concern feeling her question.

"Annie, you were shot twice, once in the chest, and once in the lower back. As of right now and probably permanently, you are paralyzed from the waist down."

"WHAT?! No! You're lying to me." Annie tried to move her feet and legs, but the more she tried the more frustrated she got.

"Annie, no, I am not lying to you. I was just poking your feet and legs and you made so reaction whatsoever. I assumed you would have noticed your inability to move your legs and someone told you since you had been awake for a few hours. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is the reality of the situation. You can't struggle like that to move your legs. It won't do you any good and your heart can't take a lot of stress right now. Also, a lot of unnecessary moving may move the bullet fragments still in your back. If they move, they might cause more damage to your spine. We couldn't do both surgeries at one time when you first came in."

Annie just sat there in disbelief. She couldn't comprehend what the doctor was saying.

"So, I will never walk again?" Is all she could manage to say in the barely whisper of a voice she currently had.

"No, you won't. Unless I am to witness a miracle. The damage if too extensive to heal itself."

Annie couldn't wrap her head around this. How could she live her life from a wheelchair? How would she work? Where would she live? Her mind started ponder her with questions. But one question she needed to know the answer to immediately.

"Does Auggie know?" Annie croaked out. Her throat was on fire, but she was determined to speak through the pain.

"Yes, of course. He knew the day you came in. I assumed he would tell you. You two seemed quite close."

Annie could not wrap her brain around why he wouldn't tell her. "Doctor, I want to be alone now."

"I understand. Would you like something to help you rest? You've just been given some awful news."

"I am okay for now. I need to process this." She replied much more calmly than she felt, but she had some things she needed to say to her supposed best friend that she didn't want to be drowsy for. Despite the pain in her chest and depression from learning her legs no longer worked. She needed a clear mind when she talked to Auggie.

Meanwhile, Auggie was outside the hospital making a phone call to Joan. The doctor had updated him on Annie's condition and Auggie was updating Joan. According to the doctor, Annie is showing no signs of feeling in her lower extremities and her heart is still quite weak, but seems to have begun the healing process after the early morning scare. He seems to think she will be in this facility for a couple more weeks and then moved to a rehabilitation facility to help her with learning to live life from a wheelchair. He planned to do the second surgery in the middle of next week to remove the bullet fragments from her back. They were still concern about internal bleeding if any of the fragments moved or if her heart did not continue to heal properly, but that was why she would stay in ICU for at least a week and a half.

Joan seemed to be very displeased that Auggie was refusing to leave the hospital. She wanted to insist that he take a day or so away from the hospital and then come back to work. However, she also knew that Annie had no one else right now because none of her family could know what had happened until they knew what had happened.

Joan informed Auggie to let Annie know that someone from the CIA would be by in the next few days for her statement about the night she was shot. Auggie wasn't sure that Annie remembered everything that had happened. He knew they were taking the breathing tube out as he spoke with Joan. He looked forward to finally being able to hear her voice and to finally know what she remembered about what had happened. Little did he know that when he arrived back to her room, she would be ready to tell him so much more than what had happened in her sister's kitchen three days ago.

**Author's Note: What do you think? **


	7. Pushed Away

**Author's Note: Originally this chapter and the previous were one chapter. But I decided to separate them. I think I separated it at an appropriate place. Annie is about to make a decision that will affect both her and Auggie. **

Auggie finally made his way back to Annie's room about an hour and a half after he left it. After calling Joan he had walked to the cafeteria, ate some lunch and then walked the hospital grounds for a few minutes. Sitting for so long had really taken a toll on his body. Auggie still got quite lost trying to get to the ICU by himself, so he asked for a nurse to assist him. After waiting for her to finish the task she was working on, he quickly, but efficiently gave her a lesson in how to be a sighted guide. She guided him to the ICU and then to Annie's room.

When they stopped at the door to Annie's room, he thanked the nurse and knocked gently on the door to Annie's room. He listened for a response, but got none. He wasn't sure if he should enter anyway or not. As luck would have it, a nurse happened to be walking by and told him that she thought Annie was sleeping since the doctor had left her about thirty minutes prior.

"Thank you nurse." Auggie replied as he entered Annie's room, sweeping his cane slowly from side to side. He knew the room well, but was never sure if they would add, remove, or move things. As he made his way around the room to where he had left the chair he was sitting in, he realized it was no longer where he had left it. For now, he would stand to check on Annie and move the chair later.

Gently, he found the bed and tried to find Annie's hand, but it was not lying on the bed where it had been the previous three days. He was afraid to continue to search for her hand because he didn't want to hurt her in his exploration.

"I know what you're looking for and I am purposely withholding it from you." Annie's sudden hoarse voice scared him more than he let on.

"You're awake!" Auggie said excitedly not picking up on Annie's current hostility towards him. This just made Annie more angry.

"Damn right, I'm awake, I've been laying here waiting for you to return. Where do you get off withholding information from me?" Her voice was beginning to get stronger the more she used it. Her hostility was showing through and Auggie was unsure what she was talking about. He simply stood there for a second waiting for her to speak again.

"Auggie, don't play dumb with me. Why didn't you tell me I am paralyzed? And when were you going to tell me about Simon?" Annie stated bluntly.

Suddenly Auggie realized why she was upset with him. He had not thought he needed to tell her. He had not thought it was his place to tell her. Nor did he think it would do her any favors to give her the news about Simon minutes after her awakening from a coma. But now, he realized that her anger about her condition was now being transferred to him. It is something he had done when he first lost his sight. He had blamed everyone around him for his circumstances. It did not help anyone. And this would not help Annie.

"Annie, you have been out of a coma for about five hours. I did not think that was the first thing you needed to hear. Yes, you are paralyzed. Yes, I have known that was the most likely case for days. Yes, I knew about Simon's death, but I didn't think you needed the grief right now with your heart in the state it is in. Yes, your life is going to be a little different from now on. But yes, Annie, you can and will live a successful life despite having a disability." While he spoke, he gently laid his hand on the bed next to her as an invitation for her to put her hand in his. She never did. He had withheld information vital to her, so now, she was going to withheld the hand that seemed vital to him.

"Auggie, I don't care the reasons. You should have told me. I want you to leave. I don't want you here."

"Annie, don't do this. You need–"

"NO AUGGIE! You don't get to tell me what I need. LEAVE NOW!" She shouted. He could hear the tremor in her voice and heard the heart monitor speed up. Her heart couldn't take stress right now. He would give her space if she needed it.

"Okay, Annie, I will be in the waiting room. Tell a nurse to come get me when you want me to come back."

"NO Auggie! Leave. Leave the hospital and don't come back. I don't want you here. I don't want anyone here. You are no longer welcome in my room. You are no longer welcome in my life."

Auggie blinked a few times as if she had slapped him over the face. He knew from experience what she was doing. But he couldn't fight her. He couldn't argue with her. She couldn't handle the stress of all of this. He had no choice but to obey her wishes for now.

"Okay Annie. I will gather my things and leave. The nurses have my number if you change your mind. I hope you do. I can tell you from experience that you need support while you go through the rehabilitation process."

"Auggie, I'm not you! I don't need you or anyone else. Now leave, right now. Come get your things from the nurse's station another time."

At this Annie watched as Auggie, awkwardly made his way to the door, open it, and walk out. She knew she had hurt him, but she did not care. He was not acting like her best friend. She did not want him sitting there next to her pitying her. She did not want his pity help. She did not need a handler right now. She did not need him.

She did not see or hear from him the rest of the week. For the majority of the week all she did was sleep, eat and then sleep and wake up to eat. The nurses came and went, changing her bandages, replenishing her IVs and medicines and occasionally trying to strike up a conversation with her, but she never talked with them about anything other than her medical needs.

Meanwhile, Auggie immerses himself into work and refuses to speak with anyone about Annie. Even Joan can't get him to open up what was going on with him and her. Joan visited Annie several times over the next few days and never got anything other than medical information from her. Annie always seemed to be "too tired" to speak with her for much longer than a few minutes. Every time she had volunteered to stay with her, Annie would conveniently "fall asleep" for hours at a time, therefore, wasting Joan's time.

Annie was not allowing anyone into her world. She secluded herself for everyone. She was becoming quite bitter over her current situation. Auggie could not force her to accept his help. He knew exactly what she was doing. He had done the same thing when he first lost his sight. She needed someone and he would wait until she told him she wanted him there. He could be just as stubborn as she could. He would not beg her to stay in his life.

**Author's Note: This is the last chapter I have completed so far. While the idea for at least 7-10 more chapters are in my head, the words are not on paper yet. Thank you to those who has reviewed. I appreciate the encouragement! Are we liking where this is heading or not? How often do most writers update their stories? I'm not sure, what is the norm on the site?  
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	8. I Need Help

**Author's Note: Here is chapter 7. This chapter, thanks to review, is what I think to be my best so far. One reviewer asked for more detail and I provided it. As a result this chapter is significantly longer than the previous chapters. If interested, I have also created another story in which I bring in a character from another show. I've only wrote Annie's POV right now, but the next chapter in that story will be the other show's character.**

Annie had been in the hospital for about one week in total. Everyday seemed the same to her. She slept most of the day. There was little else she could do. Her legs didn't work and every movement of her torso pained her. She would wake up each time the nurses checked her vitals, changed her bandages, or provided her with medications. She had no regular visitors except her former CIA boss Joan. Annie did not want Joan to come, but Joan insisted on checking on her at least three times a day and at least one of those was always in person Joan, quite frankly scared Annie. She was a fierce woman who, as Annie had experienced, could be quite cold. But Annie knew that under the CIA callus was a compassionate woman who really cared about her employees. Annie knew that she would never work for Joan again and that her CIA days were now behind her, but a small part of her was glad Joan insisted on checking in on her. Auggie had not called or visited since he told him to leave four days prior. While Annie missed her best friend more than she would admit, she didn't need him or his pity.

The only other visitors had been the CIA investigators, who wanted to know what had happened to put her in the hospital. She told them everything she knew. She and Simon had been discussing their plans for Simon to turn himself into the CIA. He was a wanted man, but he had a lot of valuable information that he could provide them. That morning, they had discussed running away together, but Annie thought better of it at the last minute telling Simon that wasn't the right thing to do.

Annie never heard any gunshots, she told the investigators. She only saw the intruder point her gun at Simon and pull the trigger twice, then at her. As the first bullet entered her chest, Annie thought in an instant about the knife block just a foot or so from her. In the instant between shots, she turned to grab a knife, only to be shot in the back. Which she now knew had left her paralyzed. The intruder was none other than her CIA boss at the time, Lena Smith. Before Annie woke up, no one knew that Lena was the person who had done the shooting. Apparently, the crime scene had been made to look like Annie had shot Simon at the same time Simon had shot Annie. Annie did not know Lena's reasons for shooting them. According to Joan, Lena claims to have had evidence of Annie being a traitor and giving secrets to Simon. Of course, that was not the truth, but given Annie's current medical situation, she was not allowed to leave the hospital to defend herself formally in front of the panel that would decide her fate.

Annie remembered being shot, waking after a few seconds or minutes of unconsciousness (she wasn't sure how much time had elapsed), seeing Simon near her on the ground, calling Auggie for help and waking up in the hospital three days later. She gave the investigators every detail she could down to where they landed in her kitchen, what clothes she, Simon, and Lena had been wearing, where Lena stood as she made the shots, and what she saw while lying awake on the floor as she spoke to Auggie. She now knew that Simon had died instantly from his wounds and that she had lost a good amount of blood at the scene of the shooting.

She did not know what evidence Lena had against her and it seemed Joan was not going to tell her. Perhaps Joan suspected the accusations to be true? Or perhaps the career CIA woman was not willing to take the chance of it being true despite her own personal feelings for Annie. Either way, Annie knew there was only one person she could get information from about this. But she didn't want to call him. She was not going to give in to her ultimatum she had issued.

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Auggie knew that all the evidence against Annie had to be fabricated. He did not have the clearance to know everything they had on her, but he knew enough to know it was seriously convincing many of his superiors. Joan was unable to tell him much of anything. He was not certain if she was unable or unwilling to help him understand what evidence they had. He didn't imagine Joan could possibly think the allegations against Annie were true, but he also knew she was not one to take risks like that.

Auggie had been working 18 hour days since the day after he was forced to leave his best friend's bedside. Joan was very concerned about the head of her tech department. He was looking wearier by the day. She wasn't sure how much longer he could go on like this. But what could she do? Her suggestions for him to go home early and rest only made him angry.

While Auggie was still very concerned for Annie, he couldn't and wouldn't force her to accept his support. He knew that she would need someone, but he also knew she couldn't call her family members until she was officially exonerated of all treason charges. And if she was found to be guilty, well, he couldn't think about those consequences. The thought of his best friend in federal prison for a crime he knew she hadn't committed was too much for Auggie to think about. At least not without becoming extremely angry with his superiors for thinking they could be true.

Auggie needed to know more about the charges against Annie. He only knew that she was being thought of as a traitor. Auggie hated that he didn't know for sure what Annie was working on when all this happened. Neither of them worked for the DPD when Annie was shot, but he was sure it was related to what she was working on. Maybe she had remembered something about the morning she was shot that could help clarify some things. He knew there had been a guard placed at her door, he assumed to keep someone out since Annie could not get up and walk out of the hospital. He smiled to himself as he thought of just how many times she had done just that.

"Annie, you can't just leave. They have to discharge you." He would tell her.

She would simply reply "I'm fine, they've bandaged me up, given me medicine. I'm good to go." He would chuckle and make her promise to seek medical help if the pain got worse or whatever wounds she had looked infected.

Of course, that was then and this is now. Now she literally could not get out of bed, at least not on her own. He knew that his best friend was never going to be the same. But she was still that-his best friend. He couldn't leave her alone to deal with this. He would fight his way back into her life. She would overcome this. She would lead a different life, but she would not stay in bed the rest of her life. She was still Annie and he would make sure she didn't lose herself.

Auggie shuddered to think what was in store for her. She would no doubt have months of exhausting rehabilitation ahead of her. He remembered his own rehab experience and knew she would need support. He had closed everyone off while he went through rehab and regretted it later. He did not want Annie to go through the same experience he did. Rehab requires a lot out of a person. It is taxing on a person physically, mentally, and emotionally. Of course he knew her experience would be different, but he knew one thing for sure, she couldn't do it alone. And now he was resolved to not allow her to.

Auggie now had two resolutions to commit whole heartily to. The first was to find out more about the charges against Annie. The second was to force, if necessary, Annie to accept his friendship.

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Annie received news that the next day she would be going under the knife again. This time for them to remove the bullet fragments still lodged in her back. There were risks though. In addition to the usual risks of any surgery, Annie could also become more paralyzed than she already was. Messing around with the spine always proved to have great risks. She was worried that the worst would happen. She decided that there was only one solution. She had to talk with someone about her fears. While she knew there were people on staff that she could have the doctors refer her to, she did not trust any of them. She had already had to talk with them about the shooting and the inevitable depression that came with the sudden disability. She had been able to give them all the "right" answers. The CIA training she received at The Farm had enabled her to become an excellent deceptionist. Of course, they looked right through it all, not believing that she had accepted her paralysis after just a few days. She was now on anti-depressants despite her protests that she was not depressed.

She would never admit it to them, but she was quite depressed. Her whole world had now changed. Not only was she different, but everyone and everything around her was different. Everyone was treating her differently. Everything she did was different than before. Going to the restroom now required that she call a nurse or use the bedpan which right now, still required a nurse be called. She had nothing left of her previous self. Well, only one, but she had sent him packing. She refused to accept his pity. He was her handler and now he felt he "had to" help her. She was not going to be his charity case.

Suddenly, Annie's phone began to ring. She had asked Joan to get her one the day she woke up and Joan had gladly done so, just happy to finally be of some help. Annie knew that her previous phone was part of the crime scene and therefore, not going to be released back to her anytime soon. It was a good thing she was used to changing phones frequently. She had always memorized any phone number that was important to her and as she went to dial his number, her phone began to ring displaying his number on the screen. Auggie was calling her.

"Hello." She answered.

"Hi Annie. I'm coming to visit. I wanted to let you know, but I'm not going to be told no, so let whoever you need to know that I'm coming. I know you've told the nurses to not let me in, but I won't accept that this time." Auggie stated as if he had been practicing what to say. She didn't have time to speak until he was finished. She was glad to hear from him.

"Okay Auggie. I will let the nurses know you are on your way. I will see you soon."

And just like that, the line went dead. The man really never did know how to properly end a conversation over the phone.

Just a couple minutes later, Auggie entered her room. Annie had not expected him to be there so quickly. She had immediately told the nurses that she had a visitor coming, but had not taken any other steps towards preparation for his arrival. She was currently wearing green and brown lounge pants and a brown tank top. Joan had brought her some clothes and personal items when she went to get her a phone. Annie was grateful for Joan's help, but again knew it was out of pity for "poor Annie". Annie had not brushed her teeth or hair today. The nurses usually insisted on helping her with these things when they helped her out of bed and into a wheelchair a couple times a day, but seeing as it was still morning they had not been by yet. She did not have the strength to transfer to a wheelchair by herself and she also was afraid to try. She knew she could easily cause the surgical scar to reopen if she slipped and fell. She simply had to accept their help, but they didn't seem to pity her, in fact they always seemed to want to push her further than she thought she could go.

Auggie entered her room cautiously. However, he did not knock, just walked in. The nurses had not tried to stop him and he had shown his CIA badge to the guard at her door. He swept his cane from side to side until he found the bed. Placing both hands on the bed after folding his cane and placing it at the foot of the bed he stood there until she spoke to him.

"Hi Auggie, it is good to see you."

Auggie was a bit taken aback by her pleasantry. He had expected the same hostility that she had thrown at him the last time he was there. He was ready for that, which is why he still stood and had braced himself on the bed.

"Annie? Why the sudden change of attitude? I had expected anything, but that. I didn't come to argue with you, but I had expected it would come to that."

Annie stifled a chuckle as Auggie spoke, she had been extremely rude to him and she really shouldn't expect him to know any differently. He couldn't see that she didn't have an angry look about her. He couldn't see that she was actually very happy to see him. He had expected to have to fight for her, but right now, while she was ashamed to admit it, she needed him.

"I'm sorry I was so hateful Auggie. You didn't deserve that. I'm glad you called. I had picked up the phone to call you as the phone rang. I had a selfish reason for calling though…."

Auggie was glad to hear her normal voice again. He did not like when she yelled at him a few days back, while he had to admit he found "Angry Annie" sexy, it was usually targeted at someone else and he was the friend she was venting to, not the cause of the anger. Auggie knew that he had called her to insist that she let him visit, that he be allowed to continue to be her friend and help her through this challenging time in her life. But why was she going to call him? And what was this about her being selfish? Auggie did not say anything as she paused to find the words she wanted to say.

"Auggie, I- I need help." She spat out as if she had ate something foul tasting. As she spoke these words, Auggie moved his hands on the bed attempting to find her hand. She placed it on the bed a few inches from where he searched and allowed his to hold it firmly once he located it.

"Annie, that is why I am here. I am here to offer you whatever you need. Support, friendship, guidance, help, anything." He was glad to be holding her hand right now. He was glad she was willing to accept his help. But now he wondered what she thought she needed that only he could provide.

"I know Auggie. I just don't want your pity."

"Annie, what makes you think I would pity you?"

"Auggie, its all I've seen from anyone for days. It's the 'poor woman, she going to be stuck in a chair all her life' or 'oh, I have to help her" mentality. You can't see the looks and probably don't realize that you're giving it." Annie stated without hostility. Auggie was relieved that she no longer seemed angry with him.

"Annie, I do not pity you. If my face is displaying anything it is compassion or empathy. I understand better than most what you are going through. I've been where you are right now. No, I did not lose my ability to walk, but I did lose my ability to see. I understand more than most people what you are going through now and what you will go through in the next few months. But, Annie, I do not now, nor have I ever felt pity for you. I am sad that you have been hurt and I understand your loss. However, I do not feel the hopelessness for you or overwhelming desire to help you that is generally associated with pity. I have been on the receiving end of pity and vowed a long time ago never to bestow that feeling on others. I am here to support you through this process, give my help when you want it and ask for it, and most importantly offer my continued friendship. But Annie Walker, you will not get rid of me again."

"Auggie, I'm not sure. I can't stop myself from feeling like everyone around me only feels sorrow for me and what I've lost. But right now. I need you. I need you to be here when I wake up from surgery tomorrow. I'm scared that I might wake up more paralyzed than I already am. The doctor had warned me that it could happen. Auggie I don't want to do it alone."

"Annie, I will be here before, during, and after. You don't have to be alone. You never have to be alone. I am here for you in whatever capacity you want. But Annie, I'm not going anywhere. You can't push me away. You will want to and I will give you space when needed, but Annie, I won't stop talking to you, being here for you, and helping you as much as I can."

For now, Annie would accept his help. She was still not sure that his help was coming from anything other than a weird sense of loyalty he felt towards those operatives that he handled while they were in the field. But for now, she needed him and she would take advantage of whatever it was that caused him to be here with her.

"Annie, do you want me to stay the night so I am already here for you in the morning before they take you back for surgery?"

"That would be great. I have some things I wanted to ask you."

"Good, I have some things I want to ask you as well."

For hours, they talked. Auggie settled into the same chair that he had called home for the days after Annie first arrived here. This time, Auggie was more hesitant to hold onto her hand. He didn't want her to think he was only doing it to be nice to her. Really he only did it to feel connected to her. It was something he had always liked to do when having long conversations with someone. It made him feel more linked to the person he was talking with since he could not see them, but for now, he would take cues from her. He leaned against the bed and put his elbows and forearms crossing each other, while Annie sat in her bed. They were only interrupted a couple times by nurses bringing them dinner, upon the insistence of Annie, Auggie was given dinner as well and once for evening medicine dispersal. It seemed the nurses were happy to see Annie sitting up in bed. They had been having trouble getting her to sit up and move around. She did not understand the point of moving legs that did not work anymore.

Annie told Auggie all of the details about the morning she was shot. Auggie was most shocked by the revelation that Lena was the shooter a week ago. He informed Annie that she was the one leading the investigation into the allegation that Annie had committed acts of treason. Neither of them knew what evidence Lena had presented against Annie. Given that Annie could not go defend herself, they both worried she would be found guilty of the charges.

Auggie now had another source of information to go to for information: Lena Smith. He could not believe that she was the shooter. Why would she shot Annie? Annie seems to think it was because Lena suspected her of treason, but that simply was not protocol. Auggie knew from the crime scene investigators that it had appeared that Simon and Annie had shot each other. But Annie's account was very different. He had to hope that her account would hold up despite any evidence placed there by Lena. He now understood why there was a guard posted at Annie's door.

"Annie, did you know there is a guard outside your door?"

"Ummm, no I didn't know that. I haven't exactly left this room in a week and when I did, I was unconscious or too drugged to remember. Why is there a guard outside my door? Do they think I'm going to go somewhere to escape the charges against me?"

"I'm not sure. Only doctors, nurses, and specified CIA personnel are allowed in to see you. Joan knows about your paralysis, although, they are keeping it "need to know" around the office. But as you were talking, I wondered if they think Lena might come to try to finish the job she started so you won't be able to insist that, despite the evidence, she shot you."

"Maybe that's what it is. I'm not a traitor. And I'm certainly not leaving this room anytime soon. I don't have the strength or ability to transfer from the bed to a wheelchair yet on my own. Depending on other people to do things for you is very frustrating. You're lucky you never had to."

Auggie grimaced at her last statement-if she only knew. He had been very dependent on others when he first went blind. He didn't know how to dress himself, find the restroom, shower, or even feed himself. He had to relearn how to do all of those things without sight and now, she would have to relearn how to do everything without the use of her legs.

He simply let her statement go for now. It was getting quite late and he knew the 8am surgery would go more smoothly if she was well rested.

"I think you should rest Ms. Walker. You have an early morning appointment with the surgeon that I intend to make sure you keep."

"Har har Auggie, what do you think, I'm gonna walk out on ya?"

"Hey, it wouldn't be the first time you've walked out of the hospital before you should have."

Annie laughed out loud at this, "Touché Auggie. No worries, I intend on being a good girl. But, could you- well- will you hold my hand tonight like you did when I first got here?" Her pausing and hesitation made Auggie smile. Of course, he would be happy to hold her hand. He slowly felt his way on the bed until he found her right hand. As he held her hand, she used the bed remote to lower the bed from the slightly angled position she had been sitting in so that she could get into a better sleeping position (not that she had gotten used to sleeping on her back yet).

"Of course Annie, whatever you need. Now get some sleep Walker, you have a big day tomorrow." Auggie settled in beside her.

That night, Auggie sat in the chair to the right of Annie's bed holding her hand all night. He knew he would wake up sore the next morning, but he didn't care. Annie seemed to sleep peacefully all night and he never let her hand go.

**So, what do you think? Is this chapter better than previous? Please review, but most importantly, enjoy. I'm trying to decide how I will start the next chapter. So if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to give them. Our friend Annie has a long road ahead of her. Oh and I have NOT forgotten about Lena, she will play a factor in either the next chapter or the one after. Obviously, my timeline if different than the show's on the whole "treason" issue. But again, it will come into play. Thank you for reading.**


	9. Mission for the Truth

**Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. Part of the conversation between Joan and Auggie is almost verbatim from the episode. I added a little, but I wanted to make it known that not all of it was my words. I have changed up some of the events as they take place in the show. My timeline goes a lot longer for our friends than what the show had. **

**I also want to say that I truly appreciate the two people that have reviewed this month so far (one PM). I was getting discouraged that people were not liking my writing since no one seemed to respond to it. I guess this is a normal occurrence on the site? I am in the middle of writing the next chapter now. My goal is to get at least two more chapters (after this one) up this weekend. I hope that you enjoy (and possibly even review?) what I have so far. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Covert Affairs or any of its characters.**

The next morning, the nurses came in at 6 am to prep Annie for surgery. Annie had been awake for a couple hours when they came in, but she made certain she kept her breathing even and movements to a minimum (which considering only half her body could move, that was easier than it used to be) so Auggie would think she was still asleep. She felt a tiny bit bad for deceiving him. She definitely did not usually use his disability to her advantage, but he needed sleep. After all, she was about to be forced to sleep for many hours.

Auggie had been true to his word; he held her hand all night. Since she had been awake, she noticed that every fifteen to twenty minutes he would wake up, listen for her and then lay his head back again. This was hard on him, she could see that, but she needed him more than she let on. Furthermore, she wanted _him_ there, and only him. She needed him there in so many ways, more ways than she could express to him at this time. She would need him even if she were not in her current predicament. She had needed him since her first day on the job. She hoped one day she could tell him just how she felt about him and she hoped the confession would not ruin their friendship.

When the nurses came in, Annie pretended to just be waking up. She did not want Auggie to worry about the amount of sleep she had gotten, which was maybe an hour, two tops. Auggie had been so diligent about making sure she got enough sleep before surgery, she did not want him to think otherwise.

Annie knew Auggie was worried about her. Hell, she was worried about herself. So many things could go wrong. Annie could tell that Auggie did his best to stay out of the nurse's way, but still comfort her. He only let go of her hand long enough for the nurses to transfer her to another more portable bed. Then one of the nurses put Auggie's hand back on hers.

Soon it was time for Annie to go back for surgery. As Annie was being pushed toward the operating room, Auggie walked beside the bed holding her hand. No words were needed between the best friends. He knew she would come through the surgery without complications and she knew he would be there when she woke up.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The surgery was one that would be complicated and long-very long. That was the worst part for Auggie-the waiting. They had already removed what they could have of the bullet during the first surgery, but the main focus of that surgery was to insure her heart was okay. This surgery was to get the remaining bullet fragments out from around her spine before they could shift and cause more damage. He knew Annie would be okay, but it didn't stop him from worrying.

He always worried about her, but usually he was there, in her ear, all throughout the danger. This was different. He couldn't do anything to help her. He couldn't be in the operating room with her. He couldn't be listening in on what the doctors did. She was on her own, in the hands of, what he hoped was, capable hands. He decided he had several hours of waiting on his hands he should do something productive. Then it hit him, he may not be able to do anything about Annie's current state in a hospital bed undergoing surgery, but he could go get an update on the allegations against Annie. He could do something about that. And now, with new found determination and purpose, he decided to do just that.

Auggie left the hospital twenty minutes after Annie went back for surgery, after making sure the nurses had his contact information with instructions to call with _any_ information about Annie and the guard knew not to let _anyone_ in Annie's room. He took the CIA car service to headquarters, his usual way to get to work. Annie had been shot eight days ago and the allegations that she was a traitor came up almost immediately.

Luckily, the committee trying to sift through the evidence, testimonials, and information were taking their time. To Auggie's disappointment, Lena was still leading the charge which meant they either didn't believe Annie's statement that Lena had shot her or they found evidence to the contrary. Auggie was still not allowed access to the evidence against Annie. So upon arriving to the building he went straight to Joan's office. Auggie knew he was Annie's only hope right now. No one else seemed to be fighting for her. Joan couldn't or wouldn't help, he wasn't sure which. Author seemed determined to get all this behind him at any cost, including losing one of the best operatives the CIA had known in a long time. And Auggie's hands were tied at what he could do on his own.

He knocked on her office door.

"Come in" Joan stated wearily. Joan was exhausted with worrying about Annie's health and career status. Joan understood that with the treason accusation (untrue or not) against her, Annie could lose her career in the CIA.

Joan looked up from her desk as her office door opened. "Auggie?!" She said surprised, immediately concerned that something had happened to Annie.

Hearing the surprise in her voice, Auggie started with trying to ease her panic. "Joan, Annie's fine. She's in surgery right now. It will take at least eight hours, but probably closer to ten. I needed to do something productive. I couldn't just sit in the waiting room." Auggie paused and Joan saw the exhaustion on his face that she felt. She knew this was all hard on him. Not only was his best friend going through the hardest physical challenge of her life, she was also being taxed mentally and emotionally by the (Joan believed to be false) allegations of treason. She had an understanding into Annie and Auggie's relationship that they had not acknowledged yet. She saw so much of herself and Author in them; they would make an unstoppable couple, if either of them ever admitted their feelings.

"Joan, I have gone as far as I can on my own. I need access to the evidence the committee is looking at against Annie. Joan, I won't take no for an answer. If you won't help me, I will find another way. I'm prepared to resign if necessary." He said almost without taking a breath. Joan knew he was serious. He was an exceptional hacker and could easily find a way around the security built around the evidence in the computer (some of which was of his own creation), but that could and probably would get him fired. She could not allow him to resign, but Joan could not let him think he could honestly have control over her. She was, after all, his boss.

"Because this is a time of extreme duress, I'm going to pretend you didn't just demand I violate a dozen protocols by passing you intel well above your clearance. But try this tack with me again and I assure you will not enjoy the consequences." Joan replied sternly.

In a softer tone Joan added. "I know you are hurting for Annie right now and that you want to help her, but you have to trust the process. Trust that the committee will discover the truth." Auggie had not expected her to roll over and give him the information, but he stood in shock at her complete unwillingness to help Annie.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Auggie, I have to call tech support. I'm having trouble accessing the evidence files on the Manhattan server. I'll have to recite my access code and under no circumstance can I have you overhear it. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think I do."

Joan proceeded to make the phone call and Auggie pretended to not listen, but actually listened quite intently determined to gather the information he needed to access the evidence about Annie. After the information was gathered he exited Joan's office without another word and headed to his office in the tech department.

He knew he did not have a lot of time. At best he had another nine hours to work, at worst seven. Annie's surgery was for sure going to take at least eight hours, but could take up to ten or twelve hours. Auggie had promised Annie he would be there when she woke up, and he would. The nurses would call him as soon as she was out of surgery and he would head back to the hospital then. For now, Auggie had a lot of information to go over.

Auggie sat at his workstation for a couple hours going over the information he accessed using the newly acquired security code. It was mostly basic information he expected to see: testimony from the delivery guy that had found Annie and Simon, crime scene photos (which of course meant nothing to Auggie), anecdotal notes from the police report and paramedics, and then of course the evidence that Lena had presented that she claimed proved Annie was selling secrets to the FSB through Simon.

Auggie was hopeful that among everything there had to be clues that Annie was innocent. He just had to find it. From his search, he knew that the crime scene appeared as if Annie and Simon were trying to shoot each other, that Annie had her passport on her, as well as account information for a secret bank account- an account that was apparently receiving regular deposits of $10,000 for the past several months. The evidence that Lena had presented included a sweep drive that Annie was accused of passing documents to Simon with and evidence that she had gone to Cuba without the knowledge of the CIA.

With that knowledge Auggie got to thinking, how had she got to Cuba undetected? Perhaps she got there illegally without using a passport? Perhaps she had a fake passport made? Or maybe that was all a lie completely and Annie had not gone to Cuba? He made a mental note to himself to ask her when she was awake and feeling a little better. For now, he needed to run the Lena angle. If she had shot Simon and Annie, how could be prove it?

In order to best do this, Auggie needed to know about Lena. He knew that she was known as an exceptional operative in her time, that she had worked with Joan on several occasions (and as a result they despised each other), and that as the boss of an elite team whose job was to do the most secretive missions that CIA had, she was a legend. However, Auggie had been in the game long enough to know-looks could be deceiving. On paper, Lena Smith seemed like the perfect spy. She was good at everything that required one to be a good spy, but perhaps she was too good, Auggie thought to himself. Perhaps the facts were not as they seemed.

After what seemed like days of working, Auggie finally found enough information that he thought he could actually do something to help Annie. After hours at his computers and then a couple more hours on the phone with various people who knew Lena-Auggie had a plan. First, he needed to speak with the delivery guy that had found the crime scene to see if there was any evidence of anyone, specifically Lena, near the crime scene. Secondly, he needed to speak with an off-site cobbler that Lena was associated with. He knew that the passport that Annie had with her that day, was not her usual passport, nor was it one that the agency had made for her. As a planned formed in his mind he gathered all the necessary documents to take to Joan. He couldn't go without her knowledge and approval.

As he was turning off his equipment and getting ready to head out to start putting his plan into action, Auggie's personal cell phone rang. Usually, personal calls were strictly prohibited under any circumstance to be taken within the confines of the CIA, but Auggie did not care, he had to be able to be reached when there was news of Annie. It had been barely seven hours since he left the hospital. He had expected to have at least two more hours to work.

Picking up his phone on the second ring, "Anderson" he stated into the receiver.

"Mr. Anderson, this is Sarah from Georgetown University."

"I did not expect your call for a few more hours. Is Annie out of surgery?"

"Yes, sir. She is out of surgery. We need you to come back as soon as you can. There were some complications."

Auggie's heart stopped, he stopped breathing, and he felt a catch in his throat all at the same time the moment he heard the word 'complications'.

"I will be there soon." was all he managed to get out before hanging up the phone.

It would take him thirty minutes to leave the office and that was if he could get a car immediately. He called the car service the moment he got off the phone with the hospital, then quickly made his way to Joan's office.

He didn't knock as he entered. He hadn't heard voices as he approached the door, so he hoped no one was in there with Joan.

"Auggie?" Joan looked up from her desk in surprise as her office door flew open just as she was going over some extremely sensitive documents. If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't see what she was working on, she would have scolded him and probably forced to reprimand him.

"Joan, sorry to barge in on you. Can we speak freely or is there someone else in the room?"

"We are alone, but I'm not happy you didn't announce yourself before coming in."

"I'm sorry Joan, this could not wait, I have to get to the hospital and I have news to share."

"Go on." Joan said as she put away the files and documents she had been working on.

"Joan, Lena shot Annie. I know the committee doesn't believe Annie, but I believe her. I just don't know how to prove it. I looked up what type of car Lena drives, can you go back to speak with the delivery guy that found the scene to see if he remembers that type car in the vicinity of the incident? There were complications with the surgery or I would go myself. There is also a cobbler I suspect made the fake passport that Annie used to get to Cuba. The number on the passport that was in her possession was on hers and not made by us. Can you go speak with him as well? You know I'd rather do it myself, but Annie needs me. I promised her I would be there when she woke up and if there were complications, I need to know what happened and what she will be waking up to."

Joan understood his need to be with her. She knew this was something neither of them had expected Annie would be going through. She was strong. She was an exceptionally great operative that was now undergoing surgery that might determine if she ever walked again. How it stood right now, it did not look like she would.

"Auggie, I've got it covered. Go be with Annie. She needs a friend right now, more than she realizes. I assume the file in your hand is the information I need to complete those tasks?"

Auggie had forgotten he was holding the file. "Yes, it is." he said as he walked forward towards where he knew she was. "I will call you when I know more about Annie. Please call me when you know more about this" indicating the file he still held. "If you need me for anything, I will have my laptop with me at the hospital, I can work from there."

"Just place the file on my desk directly in front of you; I will get started on that as soon as I am finished with what I was working on as you came in. It is also related to Annie, but is not on your clearance level and not included in the information you reviewed this morning. It is my own research." She paused for a moment, uncharacteristic emotion in her voice when she began again. We will clear Annie's name Auggie. I don't believe for a second that she has been unfaithful to her county. She doesn't have a disloyal bone in her body."

"Thank you Joan." Auggie stated as he laid the file down and turned to exit to meet the car he hoped had already arrived. This was about to be the longest car ride of his life. Anxiety began to build in him as his mind raced with all the possibilities of what the "complications" were and what they meant for Annie.

**Author's Note: What do complications do you think Annie's faces now? **


	10. Complications

**Author's Note: Chapter 9 is here and its a LONG one! You will recognize some of this chapter's events from Season 3, Episode 9, "Suffragette City". One of Auggie's monologues is almost word for word what Auggie said in the show, I couldn't not use this awesome moment. I've significantly changed the events that occurred with Lena (hope you guys don't mind). The action sequence disappoints me, I could not get it right. Please enjoy this chapter and review if you have time. I'd love to hear your likes/dislikes about the story so far. Thank you to those that have reviewed, your encouragements are keeping the story going! **

**As always, I do not own Covert Affairs or any of its characters.**

Auggie got to the hospital in record time. The entire ride over he could only think of Annie and what these "complications" could possibly be. Did she loose too much blood? Did an organ start to fail? Was she going to be completely paralyzed? Had they discovered more damage than they originally thought? Did her heart give out? Did they lose her on the table?

The possibilities were driving him mad. He was getting more worked up and anxious by the second. By the time he finally arrived at the hospital, he was close to a panic attack. The only thing that kept him from completely losing it was the fact that if he allowed himself to go there, he would not be allowed to see her. He had to stay strong for her. She needed him, now more than ever.

Upon entering the hospital he immediately went to the floor where Annie had been prior to surgery. He was certain that she could not possibly be there now. Probably in recover, he thought to himself. However, he needed to know where to go. The nurses knew him there and would be much more accommodating then someone else might be. Anxiously making his way through the halls and corridors of the hospital trying his best to concentrate on where he was going, Auggie did not want to get lost. That was all he needed right now- to get lost in this place and spend that much more time away from Annie.

Upon reaching the nurses station he was familiar with he went up to the desk. "Can I speak with Sarah please?" he asked as politely as he could expressing much more patience than he had.

"Sarah is on break right now, sir." An unknown nurse replied rather rudely.

"Okay, can you help me then? I'm here about Anne Walker." It sounded strange to him to use her given name instead of her nickname, but he was not sure if this nurse was familiar with Annie or not.

"Sir, I am not a doctor. Only the doctor can give you an update." Again, the nurse was being extremely rude and it took all that was in Auggie not to respond the same way.

Taking a deep breath before responding, "Can you please tell her doctor that Auggie is here? I was called and told I needed to come as soon as possible." Checking his watch, "That was 48 minutes ago. I got here as quickly as I could. Now, _please_, I need to know what is going on with Annie."

Auggie was on the verge of losing his cool. This nurse was being supremely _unhelpful_. The waiting was not something he had expected. After all, they had called him. He heard the unnamed nurse leave, hopefully to go talk to Annie's doctor on his behalf. This was for sure one of those times he wished he could see what was going on around him. He would go out in search for Annie's doctor himself if he thought for a second he wouldn't get lost along the way.

Auggie knew there was a waiting room near the nurse's station on this floor, but he was afraid if he did not stay where he was, the nurse would not come find him when she returned. So instead he waited. Waiting, with only his thoughts to keep him company, he tried to keep his thoughts on anything other than the mysterious complications that had occurred with Annie, but that was like asking a child not to think about their upcoming Disney World vacation. His mind again began to formulate question after question, 'what if' after 'what if'. As his heart began to pound in his chest and his breathing began getting weak he suddenly felt unsteady in his knees and feared he might collapse. In order to prevent this, he began slowly walking around the area he was standing and waiting in.

Walking slowly around the area, he began to count the number of steps it took him to get from the nurse's station to the restroom, from the nurse's station to the waiting room, and from the nurse's station to the hallway that lead to where Annie's room was. After what seemed like hours (and was only about fifteen or twenty minutes), Auggie heard the footsteps of what he hoped was the nurse that had just been, so unhelpfully, helping him.

As the person got closer he realized it was a man, wearing rather expensive cologne. The person stopped walking as Auggie approached the nurses' station again. "Mr. Anderson?" The person questioned. This was neither Sarah's voice nor the nurse who had been here earlier.

"Yes, I'm Mr. Anderson. Please call me Auggie" He stated toward the unnamed and completely unfamiliar voice.

"Good afternoon, I am Dr. Gold." Well, at least now he had a name to go with the voice.

"Good afternoon, Dr. I was expecting Dr. Weston" Auggie stated as he reached out his hand. The doctor shook Auggie's hand in greeting as he continued to talk.

"Auggie, I want to be as honest with you as I can. Would you mind if we went to sit down? I think you are going to want to as you hear what I have to say." At the sound of this Auggie thought he might be sick. He swallowed down the bile that threatened to come up and took a deep breath before answering.

"Lead the way doc." Was all he could manage to say. Panic again was slowly setting in and Auggie needed to concentrate on breathing.

As the doctor gently brushed his right hand against the back of Auggie's left hand. Auggie proceeded to run his hand up the doctor's arm to form the traditional sighted guide technique. Auggie was grateful that he did not need to explain how to do this to the doctor. As they walked through the corridors the doctor led him to what seemed like an office. He could hear the hum of a computer and ticking of the clock on the wall.

After they entered the room, the doctor placed his hand on the back of a leather backed chair.

"Please have a seat, Auggie. I will be as brief as possible, but I need to be thorough as well."

"Please doctor, go on, I've been racking my brain for the past hour or so with the possibilities of what is happening. I'm sure I've thought of a million worse things than what is actually going on."

"Auggie, I'm going to be blunt. Right now, Annie has not woken from surgery. We lost her twice on the table. Her heart was not as strong as we thought it was. There was more scar tissue around the bullet than we anticipated. We were able to remove the bullet fragments and stabilize her spine. She lost a lot of blood and had to have two blood transfusions. She is in ICU right now under strict supervision."

Auggie took a deep breath. It was worse than he feared and not as bad as he feared all at the same time. Annie made it through the surgery, but just barely. "Doc, how long before she wakes up? What about the paralysis? Did it get worse? Is there a possibility Annie walk again?" Auggie felt a catch in his throat as he said this last part. He hoped there was still a chance she could regain her mobility.

"Auggie, we do not know how long it will take her to wake up. Most patients awake up thirty to forty-five minutes after surgery. It has been almost an hour and a half for Annie and there has not been any sign of her waking up. As to her mobility, we do not know. Based on what I saw in the operating room, I would say three to five percent chance of her walking again. However, the body can surprise us. We will know more when she wakes up. Annie has a long recovery still ahead of her, but we hope this is the last surgery."

"So there is still a chance she could walk, it's not impossible?" Auggie asked swallowing the bile threatening to come up as he did.

"Auggie, we don't know. We don't want to say for certain that it is permanent, but the chances are very small. We don't want her to have false hope." Doctor Gold was being very understanding and patient with Auggie's questions.

Auggie sat there for a moment and thought. Annie had a chance. There was a chance she would walk again. This gave him a new found hope that he had not had before. Annie made it through surgery, now he just needed her to awake up. His biggest concern right now was her waking up. The question of why she wasn't waking still stuck in his mind, but right now he just wanted to be with her.

"Can I see her Doctor Gold? Can I be with her when she wakes up?" Auggie said in almost a whisper. He had made her a promise and he hoped he would be able to keep it.

"Visitors are not supposed to stay longer than a few minutes in intensive care units, but I think we can make an exception this time. I can take you there myself, unless you know your way."

For the first time since entering the hospital that day, Auggie smiled slightly. This doctor was not assuming he had to have assistance to get around. Much like Annie, he just offered the guidance as an option, but not a requirement. "Thank you doctor, I can get there alone, but will probably get there quicker if you could guide me there. I'd like to be with Annie as soon as possible. I have some things I need to say to her."

Auggie hears the doctor's chair move from behind the table they had been sitting at. Auggie stands up and waits for the doctor to initiate sighted guide. As they leave the room they had been in, Auggie feels relieved that he doesn't have to rely on the hospital signs or staff to find his way to the intensive care unit. While he could do it, he was certainly not in the mood to put forth the effort and concentration it would require.

Getting to Annie's room, Doctor Gold opened the door slowly. Auggie's senses were immediately assaulted by the smells of disinfectants and medications and the sounds of various machines all keeping Annie with him. "Auggie, I should tell you, we are very concerned about Annie's heart right now. We have to try to keep her calm and not let her get excited. I trust you can help with this? Her heart cannot take a lot of stress right now. She is on a lot of medications right now, some to ward off infection, pain medications, and anti anxiety medication. As a result, the anti-depressants she is taking might be counteracted. She might not be herself. The circumstances surrounding her injury are quite troubling. Please help her accept what had happened to her."

Auggie knew exactly what he was telling him. Auggie had been there himself. "I understand doctor."

Auggie heard the doctor starting to walk towards the door, "Doctor?" Auggie asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Auggie?" The doctor paused where he stood at the door and turned to face him.

"Doctor, what happens if she does not wake up? Is there anything you can do to help her wake up?" Auggie said quietly sitting in the chair beside Annie's bed with his elbows on his knees and hands folded under his chin.

Doctor Gold walked over to the chair where Auggie sat and placed his hand on Auggie's shoulder. "Auggie, you have to trust that Annie is strong enough to get through this. You can't give up on her, not now-not ever. She needs you. Yes, she is unconscious right now, but she won't be for much longer. We will do everything to help her, but ultimately it's up to her and her body. Hold her hand, talk to her, and believe that she will wake up."

Auggie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He knew the doctor was right. He had to believe she was strong enough to come back to him. "Thank you doctor." Auggie stated with new found positivity. He would help Annie through this. She would do the same thing for him. Heck, since Annie came into his life, he was a different person. He couldn't and wouldn't lose her.

"Call the nurse if you need anything. I will be back later this evening to check on Annie. If she wakes up, make sure you let a nurse know. The nurses will be coming in at least every thirty minutes to check on Annie's vital signs, check her medications, and try to wake her up."

As the doctor left, Auggie settled in the chair next to Annie's bed. This was a new room and Auggie was not familiar with it. Part of him wanted to explore it. He usually preferred to know where he was and what was around him. However, he knew there were a lot of machines and wires around the room; he couldn't take the chance of bumping anything and harming Annie.

Sitting there next to Annie, listening to the heart monitor steadily beep, he placed his hand on the bed and ran it on the bed until he found Annie's hand. Unfortunately it was also the hand with the IV line in it, he hope it was okay if it held it. He was not confident he could move the chair and himself to the other side of the bed without tripping over something. As he held her hand gently making sure not to touch the plastic tubing coming from her IV, he wanted to talk to her so bad right now. He had so much he needed to tell her. He decided now was a good time to see how it felt to say the words he wanted to say.

"Annie hey it's me, Auggie. You know the guy who gave you the Corvette. Since I have your undivided attention I'd like to share my thoughts about how Billy Collins' poetry is overrated and derivative. If you agree with this say absolutely nothing." He paused waiting for the reply that he knew would not come. Then laughed at himself and continued his monologue "The thing about this whole witty banter deal is it kinda takes two people otherwise it's just a guy by himself being incredibly clever." Suddenly his speech got a lot more serious and his tone changed. "I miss you, Annie. I have for a long time. Things have been different between us since Barcelona and it's all my fault. I have been closed off and distant and I can't tell you how sorry I am for that. I don't know if you can hear me but I need you to wake up. I know you're not a traitor and right now you're the only one that can help me help you. I need you, Annie. I never need anyone, but I need you."

Sitting there holding her hand Auggie was anxious. He just wanted her to wake up-just wanted her to be okay. Auggie reveled in the fact that there actually was a chance she might walk again. It was a small chance, but more of a chance then he had at ever seeing again. He could not wait to give her this news. He for sure was not going to make the same mistake he made last time he knew something about her physical health. He would tell her the moment she was awake and back to reality. This was news she would want to hear. Perhaps news that would bring the smile to her face that he had never seen, but always knew when it was there. As silly as it sounded, he missed the sound of her smile.

Lost in his own thoughts, he had not heard a nurse come into the room until her hand was on his shoulder. He startled at the unexpected touch that brought him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry." The nurse stated. "I need to get to her IV in the hand you're holding. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay. Happens more often then I'd care to admit." Auggie replied and smiled as the nurse laughed at his usual self deprecating joke. Auggie released Annie's hand and spoke to the nurse again. "Am I in the way of what you need to do? I can move to another place in the room if you tell me which way I can safely go without bumping into any of the delicate wires or machines around my friend here."

"No, you're fine. I just needed to get to Anne's IV right now. I'm just administrating her antibiotics. We don't want Annie to get an infection. If you need me to show you around the room and equipment, I don't mind accommodating." Auggie couldn't help but think this nurse who smelled of strong lavender was only offering because she thought she might have a shot with him. This was sure not the time or place for flirting.

"She likes to be called Annie, just so you know. Thank you for the offer; I am okay for now though." Auggie did want to know more about what was in Annie's room and how everything worked to help her recover, but right now, he just needed her to wake up. Then he had a thought. Putting on his most charming voice, he asked "I might need help later though, who should I ask for if I do?" he hated being looked at as someone who needed help, but he had to admit, there were times when he, in fact, did need someone's assistance. Annie was usually the person who did this for him, in her own way, effortlessly without him having to ask for the help and without making him feel helpless.

"My name is Debbie. My shift just started at 5. I will be here with you through the night. Dinner should be coming around in a few minutes. I will make sure you get a tray. We hope Anne, I mean, Annie wakes up soon. She was not responsive to my attempts to wake her this time. I'm finished with my work with her for now. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. I appreciate the offer of food." Auggie truly was grateful for the food that was coming soon. He realized as she spoke of food that he had not ate anything all day. He had been much too busy with seeing Annie off for surgery, heading to the office to work while Annie went under the knife, working for hours on clearing Annie's name, and finally rushing back to the hospital to discover that he had almost lost her and still might. He felt the day had drained him of both time and energy, even though it was only 6pm, he could sleep until morning if he let himself.

He heard Debbie leave. Later she came back with dinner showing him where the food was on a table in the corner of the room. As he allowed her to lead him to that side of the room he was careful to count the number of steps it took to get there. He also couldn't help, but notice that Debbie's perfume was stronger than it was before. She must have reapplied her perfume to impress him. He hated leading her on to think she had a chance, but it was just the way it was. Ladies love a blind man and it was a fact that he used to his advantage as often as necessary. Debbie left once again, leaving Auggie to enjoy his meal. He didn't want to be away from Annie, but he needed to keep himself strong.

After finishing his meal, he took out his cane and slowly made his way back to the chair next to Annie's bed. When Debbie came back he would need to ask him where the restroom was. Luckily he did not have to wait long. As she returned she was happy to help him find the bathroom. Much to his displeasure, she did not seem to want to simply tell him where it was, she wanted to show him. Again, he allowed her to. She seemed to think he "needed" her to help.

He was reluctant to leave, but really needed to use the facilities. On his way back to Annie's room, his phone rang. As the phone announced the caller, he immediately picked up. "Hello, Joan." He answered.

"Auggie how's Annie? I haven't heard from you, I've feared the worst."

"Sorry Joan, I forgot to call you. The bullet's fragments were removed from Annie's spine. She lost a lot of blood and her heart stopped twice. They got her back quick the first time, but the second time took longer. They are concerned about her heart right now." He paused and let what he said sink in before giving the final blow. "Joan, she has not awakened from surgery yet."

"What! You've been there for four hours Auggie. Anesthesia does not usually last that long after surgery does it?"

"No, not usually. They are not sure why it is taking so long for her to wake up. I'm concerned Joan. What if she doesn't wake up?"

"Auggie, you can't think like that." Joan had not heard him so pessimistic since after his own accident in Tikrit. At that time, the newly blind man had been very pessimistic about his disability. "You need to stay positive for yourself and her. You know you can't let yourself go down that path. I am almost there now, we need to discuss what I found today and create a game plan from there. I no longer have any doubt that Lena is behind all of this."

"Okay Joan, I will stay positive. Annie is in room 309 in the ICU. Get here safely. I will see you soon." Auggie once again was being reprimanded by someone for not being positive for Annie. What was wrong with him? Since he meant Annie, he was usually joking and happy around her. Now when she needed him most, he was flaking out on her. Auggie shook his head, she needed him and he knew it. With new found determination, he headed back to Annie's room. As he approached her room, he heard commotion from inside.

Quickening his pace, he passed the nurse's station. Hoping someone was there he said, "I need help in room 309, quickly." Someone must have been at the nurse's station because Auggie immediately heard the squeak of tennis shoes behind him heading toward Annie's room.

Annie slowly opened her eyes as she felt a tightening in her chest. Looking around the room she saw that she was alone. _Where is Auggie? He promised me he would be here when I woke up._ She began to panic. Suddenly, the door opened. As her vision gets clearer, she realizes too late that it is Lena who has entered her room. Before Annie could call out or fight her off, Lena had placed a pillow over her head and was pressing down.

Auggie threw the door open. Someone was in there other than Annie. The nurse behind him entered and what transpired next shook Auggie to the core. He couldn't see what was happening, but he could imagine it.

"What are you doing?" Debbie shouted to an unnamed, unseen person in the room. Unfortunately the guard had taken a fifteen minute break to get something eat. Usually there was a replacement when the guard left, but this time the replacement had been running late and no one thought anything about it.

As Auggie went to enter the room he felt Debbie crash into him. They both collapsed to the floor just outside the door of Annie's room. "What's going on?" Auggie questioned frantically trying to reorient himself as they disentangled themselves from each other.

"There's a dark haired woman who has a pillow over Annie's face. Annie is trying to fight her off." Debbie replied shocked in almost a whispered voice.

Auggie knew immediately who the intruder was and knew he had to stop her. "We have to help Annie." Auggie said in a hushed whisper, not knowing how long Lena had been in the room with Annie. Not knowing if Annie were still alive.

As Auggie found the nurse's arm they both entered the room again, this time ready to take on what was inside. As they entered, Auggie could hear Annie struggling against the attack being made on her life. _Holy hell!_ Auggie thought, _Was this what Annie had woke up to?_ The muffled sounds of her trying to scream was more than he could bear to listen to. For the first time since all this started, he knew that she was literally helpless.

Auggie flung himself toward where he thought Lena was. He caught her arm and grabbed ahold of her, pushing her back toward the door he had just come in. She fought back, punching Auggie twice before he got in a hit of his own. Auggie was determined not to let go of her, he had to keep a hand on her to fight her. He attempted to put her in a choke hold, but she escaped twisting away from his grip long enough to sweep his feet from under him causing him to fall backward, hitting his head on the door frame. Auggie tried to find her again, searching, this time, for her legs as he crawled tentatively on the floor sweeping his arms out swiftly. When he found her legs, it was as she kicked him. As Auggie took two kicks to the abdomen and one to the side of his head, he simultaneously tried to block himself from Lena's kicks as well as pull one of her legs out from under her to knock her off balance. Lena landed a powerful blow to his abdomen once more causing Auggie to reflexively twist into himself.

While this was going on, Debbie had gone to Annie's aid. Annie was gasping for air, the heart monitor sounding off that Annie was quickly headed toward cardiac arrest. Annie could see the fight taking place in front of her, but could not get any words out to help Auggie as he fought Lena. Her vision was becoming blurred and her head was spinning from lack of oxygen. Lena had not had the pillow over her for longer than 45 seconds, but in her weakened state and the panic that set in as a result, Annie was quickly fading.

Auggie lay on the floor clenching his abdomen when he realized that another person entered the room. He smiled to himself as he recognized the sound of the charms around her necklace and quickened pace of her pumps.

Joan enters Annie's room breathlessly (having heard the sounds of a struggle and running most of the way down the hall) as Lena is trying once again to suffocate Annie. Lena had thrown Debbie across the room causing her to fall into a disoriented Auggie. Joan grabs Lena and throws her into a medical cart in the corner of the room. Lena, only momentarily fazed by this, comes back at Joan with full force. Joan and Lena fought for several minutes before Lena begins her escape. Seeing that her mission to end Annie Walker was unsuccessful, Lena retreated from the room as Joan takes off after her. Several nurses and doctors begin to enter Annie's room as they depart.

Hoping to elude Joan in a sea of people, Lena pulls a nearby fire alarm causing people to begin trickling into the hallways to exit the hospital. Joan caught onto the plan and exited from a side entrance to cut Lena off before she could exit through the front. Joan immediately picked her out of the crowds and coming from Lena's right side tackled her to the ground.

Meanwhile, in Annie's room, Auggie is once again disentangling himself from Debbie as he hears that the heart monitor is sounding off that Annie's heart has stopped. Someone is manually giving Annie oxygen using a pump as he hears someone shout "clear!" signaling that they are attempting to use a defibrillator to restart her heart. It takes three attempts before they are successful. Finally, Annie opens her eyes.

**Author's note: What do you think will come next for our friends? Lena is no longer a threat, does that mean Annie and Auggie get their happily ever after? You tell me! **


	11. Acceptance

**Author's Note: Enjoy! That's all I'll say for now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Covert Affairs or its characters. **

Two weeks after waking up from surgery and almost being killed by Lena, Annie was finally allowed to leave the hospital. Joan was helping her out by escorting her to the Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Center in Richmond, Virginia. The alternative was to allow the hospital to transfer her there. Annie preferred it this way. As much as she hated not being able to take herself there and having to depend on someone else, at least it was someone she knew. While there, she would build her strength, learn how to live as a wheelchair user, and see a counselor daily. Annie was struggling to think of all the overwhelming tasks she was about to be faced with. The last two weeks had been very hard on Annie. She had started some physical therapy, but the process was very slow since her heart was still quite weak and she was still recovering from the two bullet wounds and surgeries.

Auggie had spent every moment he had away from work at the hospital with her. She found this determination to see her through this endearing, yet at the same time annoying. His cheerful outlook on this devastating situation was agonizing for her to accept. She did her best to stay positive when he was around, but it was difficult keeping up the façade. It was becoming hard to let the depression that threatened to overtake her to envelope her into its grasps. As she sat in the car heading to the rehabilitation center, Annie recalled an incident that had occurred between her and Auggie, an event she regretted.

Annie had been to her first physical therapy session. It had been brutal and extremely frustrating for someone who had once been in tip top shape. Auggie had gone to the session with her in order to encourage her through the process. The therapist had been apprehensive about letting Auggie sit in on the session, but Annie had seemed to be comfortable with in, so he let Auggie stay.

Throughout the session Annie was supposed to be working on strengthening her arms and core during the first part. During the second part, Annie was trying to keep her legs strong using various types of equipment that held her up as the therapist moved her legs for her. The whole session only lasted thirty minutes, and only twenty of that had been spent doing actual exercises. However, the exercising had Annie sweating within a couple minutes of starting the exercises and left her breathless, exhausted, and ready to quit. Throughout the session, Annie was, to say the least, less than positive towards the exercises and her therapist.

As they were eating dinner later that night, Auggie started in on her.

"Annie, today, during your physical therapy, you sounded like you didn't want to do the work. You know you have to go through this? You know you don't really have an option, right?"

"Yes, Auggie, I know. I have to work my ass off to get my strength up to where I can use a wheelchair, transfer myself from a wheelchair to a car or bed, and basically live life without using my legs. I understand I have to keep my legs in shape so that if I regain the ability to walk I can do so without having to build the leg strength if that miracle occurs. I know that I have to remember to move these useless legs so that blood circulation continues. Can't have a blood clot forming and killing me can I? I know Auggie. I know all of this. Can I please have a moment of self-pity-just a moment to complain?" Annie tried not to get worked up as she spoke, but sarcasm was coming through more and more with every word.

Auggie lifted his hands in mock surrender and replied in his usual joking manner, trying to lighten the mood. "Hey, don't take your frustration out on me. I'm on your side, remember. I'm sorry I said anything, but you know I'm right. I know this rehab stuff seems pointless, but trust me when I say, you will be grateful for it later." Fury once again threatened to overtake Annie. Was he really comparing what he went through to this? Yes, it was traumatic for him. Yes, it was horrible for him to go through. But this was completely different.

Angrily Annie replied "You've had five fuckin' years to deal with your disability and from what you've told me, it wasn't easy for you to accept at first. Can't you just give me at least a month or so to wrap my head around everything before lecturing me about what I have to do, should want, or feel?" Annie stopped her speech as she began to feel her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing was starting to become shallow. This had been happening a lot when she got excited. As she stopped talking, she saw just now harsh her words were for Auggie. It was like she had slapped her best friend in the face. Nonetheless, she didn't want or need his help right now and she sure as hell didn't need his pity. The two barely said two words to each other the rest of the evening.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As Annie sat in the passenger seat of Joan's car deep in thought, she suddenly realized Joan was calling her name.

"Annie?" Joan said questioningly. They were half way through their almost two hour trip between Georgetown University Hospital and VCU Rehabilitation Center.

"Yes?" Annie shook her head and looked at Joan. She was grateful that Joan did not seem to make a big deal about having to help her. Her former boss had seemed to take on almost a motherly role for Annie. There was still a lot that Annie needed help with. Annie still could not transfer herself from her wheelchair to other seats without the assistance of someone. Not only did she not have the energy to do so, she also did not have the strength. Sitting in a hospital bed for basically a month had robbed Annie of her muscle tone.

"Annie, are you okay?" Joan asked with obvious concern in her voice.

"I'm just great Joan." Annie replied sarcastically. She didn't mean to be rude, but it wasn't exactly a question she liked replying to lately. Of course she wasn't okay. She had been shot, she was in a wheelchair (that she might never get out of), and she was currently dependent on someone to help her with everything-and what's worse, she wasn't sure there would ever be a time when she didn't need someone's help.

"Annie, you know what I mean. Please don't push me away like that. I'm here for you." Joan replied in her usual stern manner, but this time, there was something else behind it. Compassion perhaps.

"I know Joan, I'm sorry. This is just hard. I never thought my life would be this way. I mean, I can't go to the bathroom on my own. I can't dress myself. I can't even defend myself against someone trying to kill me. I just can't wrap my head around why all this is happening to me." Annie lays her head back on the seat and takes a deep breath.

"I wish I could help you understand. I don't know why Lena tried to use you to take the fall for her actions. I don't know why she shot you. I don't know why she wanted to kill you. But I _do_ know that you can continue to have a successful, fulfilled life, even from a wheelchair. I know things will be different for you now, but Annie, you have to stay positive." Joan replied calmly. Annie could see that it was hard on Joan to see her in pain. She and Joan really had been able to get closer throughout this process. It had been Joan who had captured the fleeing Lena the night she had tried to kill her in the hospital.

"Thank you Joan. I'm just feeling sorry for myself. I'm sure Auggie would have some witty cleaver comment about it all, but I just don't know how to deal with this. Auggie uses his sarcasm to help him with his disability. I don't know how to deal with this yet. It's going to take time." Annie was relieved that Joan and Auggie were there for her. She needed someone. She hated to admit it, but she did need someone. She would no longer be the strong independent CIA spy she once was. One thing was certain, however, she was glad that she was finally not considered a traitor against her country.

The CIA had finally realized that it was Lena who had been selling secrets to the Russians. Lena had not confessed to anything, but Joan had found the cobbler who had made the passport that Annie had used to get to Cuba and the cookie delivery man had remembered seeing the exact same vehicle make and model that Lena owned in the vicinity of the crime the morning Annie was shot. The cobbler had been more than willing to give up evidence of more of Lena's crimes than the CIA knew about in order to save himself.

A content silence fell between them and remained the rest of the trip as they both considered what was ahead for Annie. Joan thinking about her career and relationship with Auggie, with Annie thinking about what daily life was going to be like from here.

Upon arriving at the rehabilitation center, Annie was shown around the facility while Joan filled out paperwork. As Annie was coming back with Nathan, a staff member who had been showing her around, Joan had finished all the paperwork necessary. Nathan showed Annie and Joan to the room she would be staying in during her duration at the center.

The room was a very spacious, almost like a one bedroom apartment. The bed was located in the center of the wall to Annie's right and was low to the ground. There was a table beside the bed that she would use as a nightstand. On the wall adjacent to the door, was a three drawer dresser and a loveseat sized couch. Then to her left was a desk in the corner. Lastly, near the entrance to the bathroom was a round table with two chairs under it. This room reminded Annie of her dorm room from college, except much bigger.

Annie liked the room. She had been unsure what to expect. To her relief, she was not going to be spending the next few weeks to a month in a 'whole in the wall' room with poor lighting and impossibly small living space. This room was large enough for her to move around freely in her wheelchair without a chance of hitting things, the bed and chairs were low enough to the ground that she could easily transfer from her wheelchair to them, well, if they had the strength (which Annie did not have right now), and most importantly, the bathroom was accessible to her.

Aside from a few accessories it contained, the bathroom looked like your everyday typical bathroom. The floors were a nonslip material that would prevent Annie from slipping as she transferred to the shower seat or commode. It contained a pedestal style sink with grab bars on either side, a typical commode again with bars on either side, and a shower that had a hose style shower head with an attached seat. Annie was not looking forward to the enviable time she would have to spend with someone learning how to take care of her personal needs that occurred in this room. She had already spent too many humiliating moments with nurses at the hospital taking care of those needs; she could not see how it would get easier.

Joan spent a couple hours with Annie until Auggie came after lunch.

When Auggie arrived, Annie showed him around her room allowing him to explore it on his own after she lead him to it. They were going to have to work on how they could perform their usual sighted guide technique for allowing Annie to guide Auggie places. For now, he either held to her wheelchair or placed his hand on her shoulder and walked beside her as she told him when he would need to get behind her as they approached other people, doorways, or narrow passages.

Around 8 O'clock in the evening, Auggie left for an hour or so to get dinner. While he was gone, Annie took the opportunity to settle herself in by unpacking. Joan had went to her house and got her clothes, toiletries, and other personal items. As she put things away, she was grateful for the ease she found in moving around the room. Everything was on a level that she could reach from her wheelchair without straining.

Nathan came to check in once while Auggie was gone and administered her nighty medication before he left. He was surprised at how her mood had changed since her arrival that morning. To him she had seemed jaded and bitter. This new Annie seemed positive and determined. It was a change in her he hoped would remain through her time here.

When Auggie arrived back at the center, he was appreciative of Annie's change in mood as well. Auggie would be sleeping on the couch tonight. Before he allowed himself to settle in for the evening, he wanted to make sure Annie had everything she needed. Annie did have a favor to ask of him, but she was not sure how to ask him.

"Annie, what is it? I can tell from the three sighs you've made from the desk that you want to say something. Just say it." Auggie finally asked around 10. They had been chatting for the last hour about the case he had been working on and the latest office rumors Auggie had to share.

"Well." Annie started biting her lip as she thought of how to ask him. "It's a question I'm pondering not a statement."

"What is it, Annie?" Auggie replied straightening himself in his chair.

"I hate to ask Auggie, but can you help me? I'm still not strong enough to move to the bed by myself. Would you mind? I can ask Nathan if you can't." Annie asked hesitantly

"Annie, I'm surprised at you, of course I can. Just tell me what to do; I don't want to touch anything I shouldn't accidently." Auggie said suddenly embarrassed at the thoughts that have come to his mind, especially when the fact remained, that he absolutely would not mind exploring her body.

Auggie shook these thoughts from his mind as walked over to where he knew the bed was as Annie wheeled herself parallel to it. Auggie felt for the bed from where Annie sat in her wheelchair to make sure he knew the distance between the two.

"Okay, all I need you to do is lift me straight from my wheelchair to the bed. I can do the rest once I get in the bed. You will lift me by putting one of your arms under my legs and the other one the small of my back, about the point where I was shot. Don't worry, you can't hurt me, I don't feel either of those areas." Annie instructed him as he put his hands on the arms of her wheelchair and searched for her legs.

"Annie, are you sure I won't hurt you? You won't know if I do or not since you can't feel. I don't want to cause you any pain."

"Auggie, I'm fine. Both wounds are healed enough that there isn't a chance they will reopen unless I fall. So the only thing you have to worry about is dropping me, so don't do that." Annie teased.

"Oh ha ha Annie, way to make me nervous." Auggie retorts in his usual teasing manner.

Of course, Auggie easily lifted Annie from her chair to the bed without any problem.

"Wow, Annie, I don't know how much you weighed before you were shot, but I'm almost certain you have lost a lot of weight." Auggie stated seriously as he held Annie over the bed momentarily.

As Auggie sat her down on the bed, she replied "yeah, it's the hospital food. Eating that for almost a month will take the weight off anyone." Annie answered him in a playful manner.

As Annie wiggled herself into a semi-comfortable position in the bed, Auggie made his way back to his make shift bed for the evening. They said their good nights, settled in and waited for sleep to overtake them.

As Annie allowed herself to relax she thought about the journey she had before her and she was certain that her time at this place would be educational, torturous and enlightening. She was also certain that she did _not _want Auggie spending day after day there with , but surely she was finally starting to accept her fate. Accept, maybe, but that did not mean she was not still incredibly depressed about what it meant for her life now.

**Author's note: Thoughts? **


	12. Hope

Day four at the rehabilitation center started the same as the two days before. Annie woke up to her alarm at 7am. She grabbed the pant leg she slept in with one hand, then used the other hand behind her to push herself up to a seating position and waited for someone to come help her out of bed.

That was one thing she hated most, having to have help with the most basic things. But for now, she had to accept help. Her upper body strength was just not strong enough, nor was she confident enough to attempt it on her own.

Annie had always been proud of the fact that she was not one of those girls that had to spend hours getting ready for the day. Once upon a time, she could be up and out the door in fifteen minutes or less. However, now, since the shooting, Annie took forever to get ready for anything. Just getting out of bed, for now, took someone picking her up out of bed and placing her into her wheelchair. The doctors were still hesitant about Annie transferring to and from her wheelchair until her surgery sites where completely healed. They did not want her accidently opening up the wounds. It had been a mere two and a half weeks since her last surgery. The scars were healing, but it was a slow process.

She _was_ getting stronger. Every day she was a little stronger than the day before. But what was not quite getting stronger was her confidence. After the agonizing process of getting ready in the morning, Annie rolled herself to breakfast. The rehab facility was rather large and it took her five minutes to roll herself to the cafeteria. The first couple days she had opted to stay in her room for her meals, but after Auggie so eloquently put it on her second day, "You really should try to learn to get around here. You will be here for several months and secluding yourself will not help you. Plus, you need the practice with your wheelchair."

From that day forth, Annie ate each meal in the cafeteria with the other patients. She ate alone the first few days she went to the cafeteria, but at least she was there. She actually kind of enjoyed watching the other patients. It reminded her of her days in the field, observing potential terrorists, arms dealers, or otherwise crooked characters. For now, she was content watching fellow wheelchair users and imagining what their back stories might be.

After the third day, Auggie stop coming every day. Joan had him working a lot and by the time he got off work he didn't have time come see her. Annie understood. It would take two hours for him to get there and two hours for him to get back home. Plus, he always wanted to stay long enough for the trip to seem worth it. So for now, they texted, emailed, and called each other. Auggie always made sure he called Annie every night without fail. Annie enjoyed talking to him; it was almost like old times. Having him talk to her for long periods of time, asking about her day, encouraging her to do her best, giving her suggestions on what to do next- it was almost like she was on an extended mission, needing his support to help her achieve the mission's goal.

Only, this was not a mission. It was Annie's new life. It was a reality that could not be escaped. It was her personal worst nightmare come to life, but it was something Annie was learning to live with. Each day she overcame another obstacle, whether it was within herself, learning a new skill, or mastering a skill she had been working on.

Days at the rehab facility were long. However, this morning, she had to wait longer than usual. The last four days when it was time to get ready, either Jennifer or Sarah had come to help her-and they were always there within fifteen minutes of 7. But it was already 7:30 and no one had come to help her yet. Annie thought momentarily that maybe she should go ahead and try to start the process by herself, but Annie quickly rethought that. She was not ready for that step yet. As much as she did not want to accept the help of strangers, she also did not want to fall and hurt herself.

Although, it seemed that Annie's therapist thought she was ready to be more independent. Around 7:45, the daily living coach came in to Annie's room. Annie had only seen Christina once, the day before. As it was explained yesterday, Christina would be helping Annie learn to live her life from a wheelchair. She would help Annie learn to move to and from her wheelchair, dress herself, cook, clean, drive, and essentially take care of herself from her newly acquired accessory that she seemingly could not exchange. Upon meeting Christina, Annie had thought she was nice, but a bit abrasive in her demands of Annie. She expected a lot from her. This morning was no different.

"Good morning Annie. Still in bed I see." Christina commented matter-of-factly

"Good morning Christina, yes, no one has come yet to help me get out of bed, go to the bathroom or get dressed. I don't know why." Annie replied.

"That's easy, I told them not to. I wanted to see what you would do if there was no one to do everything for you. I guess you chose to do nothing."

"That's not fair! I can't do it by myself." Annie said defensively.

"Yes you can Annie. You have the ability to do all those things by yourself. You just have to want to. You have to know your limits of course and there are different ways to doing those things, so you have to do a little experimenting for yourself for what works for you. But, Annie, there are people here a lot worse off than you. Your legs don't work, but your arms do and you still have a good bit of core support that many others don't. So I need you to get over this self-pity you've got going on and get ready to work harder than you have ever worked before." Christina stated rather harshly.

She was a petite woman, appearing to be in her late 30s, possibly early 40s. Her short brown hair danced around her ears as she animated to life scolding Annie. Annie wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She seemed nice, if you could get past the hard shell. In this respect she reminded Annie a lot of Joan.

"Now, you're going to use the transfer board, like we have shown you. You will transfer yourself from the bed to your wheelchair, then go to the bathroom and transfer yourself to the toilet. Then we will work on how to dress you." Christina added.

Annie blinked a couple times and just looked at Christina who still stood by the door. No one except Auggie or Joan had ever talked to her this way, at least no one that Annie didn't immediately put in their place. Annie was not used to feeling like she couldn't do something. She was a strong independent CIA spy just a months ago. And now, Annie felt like she couldn't do anything on her own. Auggie and Joan pushed her, but she was used to that. Christina pushing her felt like an invasion of her privacy. She didn't like being spoken to like she was a child, but as harsh as her words were, Annie knew they had some truth to them.

After several minutes Annie finally said. "Okay. Let's see if I can do this. Can you help me if I need it?"

"Of course, that's why I'm here." Christina said more cheery than she had been since she walked in.

The process of transferring herself off the bed to her wheelchair took five minutes, and then getting from her wheelchair to the toilet took another three. By the time Annie got there, she discovered that she had had an accident on herself. Christina seemed unphased by this, but Annie was mortified. It had happened numerous times in the hospital, but not at all since she had arrived at the rehab facility. Apparently the change in routine this morning meant a lot of embarrassment for Annie.

"It happens Annie. You will learn to cope with it and learn how to avoid it. Make sure you always have an extra change of clothes with you, just in case. Oh, and always go to the bathroom thirty or so minutes after eating or drinking. You will learn your own body and how often you need to go to the bathroom. Everyone is different. But trust me when I say, your bathroom routine is nowhere near as complex as most paraplegics and simple compared to a quadriplegic's."

Annie realized it was useless to argue with Christina. She knew what she was talking about and Annie could learn a lot from her. After dealing with her bathroom needs, Annie got dressed. This process took forty-five minutes. Putting her pants on took the longest. Annie had to get back on the bed to put her pants on. In order to put the pants on, she laid them out on top of her legs, then took each leg and put it into its respective pant leg until the pants were covering her legs. Then Annie would alternate turning to each side by grabbing the side of her bed and then pulled the pants up over her behind. This took several times of turning on each side before her pants were up completely. After the pants were on, she zipped and buttoned them before bringing herself back to a sitting position, putting her legs over the bed and then transferring back to her wheelchair with the aid of the transfer board.

Putting on a shirt was easy. The process of putting shoes and socks on seemed pointless to Annie, but she did it anyway. This required her to reach down and lift her foot to the opposite leg's knee in order to reach her foot to cloak it in a sock and shoe. She could have probably just reached down to do this whole process, but the action left her feeling dizzy when she bent at her waist for the amount of time it took her to put both socks and shoes on by herself-she had experienced that the second day when she had tried putting her socks and shoes on.

After fully dressing herself, Annie decided she wasn't hungry and wanted to go ahead and start her day's session with Christina. While she knew part of her session today was about getting dressed in the morning, she didn't think that was all Christina had for her-and boy was she right.

The next hour was spent with Annie in Christina's office moving from couch to her wheelchair, to another chair, back to her wheelchair. Part of Christina's work space was set up with different types of chairs, couches, benches, and other types of seating. The space was large enough that Annie could easily maneuver her wheelchair between the spaces, but a couple of the chairs were hard for Annie to get into or out of.

One particular oversized recliner caused Annie a great deal of frustration. By the time Annie got into it from her wheelchair, over half her time was up. Christina gave her fifteen minutes at four of the locations in the room. She had to get in each seat and back out again. Between getting in and out of each seat, Annie was allowed to spend any leftover time just relaxing. But spending eight minutes to get into this particular chair, Annie knew it would take her longer to get back to her wheelchair. This recliner had sat up a lot higher than most of the other seats, so it took Annie a while to figure out just how she was supposed to get into it. She finally decided to put her wheelchair directly in front of the chair, then hoist herself onto the chair and then pivot her backside to sit in it. Then she would bend down and move her wheelchair. It was always harder to get out of a recliner then into it. Her wheelchair could be locked, but this recliner rocked as Annie tried to move from it. Add to that, the fact that Annie was physically exhausted. Furthermore, the confidence Annie had gained from successfully transferring to and from the other seats was beginning to waver slightly.

In order to get out of the chair again, Annie had many options. She had already practiced this many times, but not from this height. She was trying not to use the transfer board because she had not had to use it since the first chair she moved to this session. But, this chair sat up higher than her bed. She knew that the easiest way, would be transfer to the floor by sliding down the front of the chair and then transferring from there to her wheelchair. However, right now, she wanted to try something else. She was feeling successful, confident, and even a little adventurous to try something new.

Instead of transferring to the floor then to the wheelchair, Annie moved the wheelchair so that it sat perpendicular to the recliner, and then slides herself on the edge of the recliner. She moved her feet and legs away from where the wheelchair sat. Then she put her left hand on the wheelchair and tried to pivot her bottom to her chair. However, as she went to pivot she realized, too late, that she forgot to lock the wheels of the wheelchair. The motion of her trying to get to the chair, pushed the wheelchair backwards, and caused Annie to land embarrassingly hard on her bottom and left arm.

After her session with Christina, Annie's pride was very bruised, not to mention her body. She was extremely sore and her body ached all over. The worst part, it was only 9:30am by the time Annie got back to her room. Now she was hungry, but she knew breakfast stopped being served at 9:00. She wondered if she could go ask the cafeteria staff to make her something. But after more thought, she decided she did not want special treatment.

She decided that later she would ask Joan or Auggie to bring her some snack foods, meal bars, and quick meal options that she could keep in her room. For now, Annie needed to rest. Practicing transferring to and from multiple locations was much more work than Annie had done in over a month. More importantly it was more than she thought she could do. But, to her surprise, she did it. She had gotten a bit breathless a couple times and her heart pounded in her chest when she fell, but she did it nonetheless. Christina had told her she could do it and now, she felt a little better about the coach's opinions.

The rest of the day went off without much incidence. Annie went to physical therapy at her usual time before lunch. Today she felt a little better about the progress she was making, and her therapist could tell the difference in the energy she put froth during their exercise regime. After eating lunch, Annie went back to her room and took a nap. Before the shooting, Annie never needed naps. She always had the energy she needed to complete the activities in her day, but now, it seemed her body couldn't handle everything the rehab facility put her through without a recharge in the middle of the day. When she brought this concern up later in her session with her counselor, he pointed out that her body was still recovering from major heart surgery and another surgery and that the new psychical demand of paralysis would take some getting used to.

Later that evening, Annie dealt with a concerned Auggie. He couldn't believe the difference he was hearing in his best friend's attitude:

"Annie, you sound different tonight. Are you sure everything is okay? I can be there in an hour and a half if you need me." Auggie stated with concern when Annie just seemed too cheerful.

"Auggie, I'm fine. I'm learning that I can't sit around and mope all the time. I'm grateful you want to be here for me, but you need rest too. Joan will not be happy with me if I let her head of tech ops stay up all night because he doesn't think I'm sincere. Let her come check up on me herself if you're both that concerned. Auggie, it is not necessary though. Today was the first good day I've had, but I know there will be more. I'm not so naïve to think I will never have bad days too, but I'm positive this change is for real. Auggie, I'm back. The old Annie is making a comeback." Annie stated with so much passion that even she herself was beginning to question it. Perhaps her attitude really was changing.

If only Annie knew what changes really were in store for her…

Later that night, Annie was getting out of the shower and preforming the nightly routine Christina had helped her perfect on her first night here. This was only the second time she had went through it and the first time alone. But Annie's confidence from the day seemed to be unwavering. As she transferred from the shower seat to her wheelchair, Annie wheeled herself over to the sink where all of her toiletries sat. As she began putting body lotion on her legs and massaging each leg deeply to get some blood flowing Annie's hand slipped as she went to put her leg back to a resting position causing the leg to drop against the foot petal. Suddenly a searing pain went through her leg as she massaged the heel of her foot. "ouch!" she shouted to no one in particular. "Did I just feel pain in my foot? She again spoke to no one, just wanting to hear it for herself. As a smile came to her face she hoisted herself up onto the bed. Once there, she lifted her foot and dropped it back to the bed again. Nothing. After three more attempts she felt it again. A little tingling in her foot. Satisfied with her discovery, she got back off the bed to finish her nighty routine.

Annie went through the routine of finishing putting lotion on her body, sitting on the toilet once more to make sure all the body fluids were out for the evening, putting her pajamas on, and brushing her teeth. Annie wheeled herself out of the bathroom and locked the wheels of her wheelchair beside the bed, Annie realized something-this meant she might be able to walk again.

_Finally_, what she had been waiting for since this nightmare started a month ago. Finally, there was hope. Annie had hope of walking again, she just knew it had to be true.

_**A/N: Please enjoy and review.**_


	13. Full of Hope

Annie woke up the next day, day five of her rehab, with an excitement to start the day that she had not had in months. She woke at 6:30am before her alarm went off. Today, however, she refused to wait around for someone to help her. She had so much to do. As she stretched her arms above her head she could feel the soreness from yesterday's sessions. Continuing to stretch herself she bent herself at the waist slowly down so that her arms met her toes. This time she didn't feel anything in her feet when she touched them. This didn't upset her though. She figured the sensations would come and go.

She quickly transferred herself to her wheelchair and began the morning routine she had done the day before with Christina. She was slower today, more cautious since she was alone this time, without the watchful eye of her coach. She opted for putting shorts on instead of pants. These went on much quicker. After washing her face, brushing her teeth, and dressing, Annie decided she would do a few of the exercises Marcus had her doing the day before.

Annie still could not believe what had happened. Of course, it was just the two times. But it was hope, right? If she could feel something then that meant she was getting better. That her spine was healing. She could not wait to ask her doctor about this. Today, her day started with physical therapy. So after twenty minutes of some light exercising, she decided going to breakfast would be best so that she had strength to get through the session with as much passion as she felt the task now deserved. For once, she had reason to work hard. This new found hope gave her reason to fight-a reason to want to be stronger.

The psychical therapist, Marcus was a tall, African American around Annie's age. He always had a smile on his face. Even when Annie was uncooperative her first couple days in therapy, he still kept his smile. Today, to Marcus' surprise, Annie worked harder than he had seen her work yet. He noticed immediately when she came in that she was smiling, happy, and determined to complete whatever tasks he had for her. When their session was ending she also asked him what else she could do on her own to strengthen her upper body and how she should best keep her lower body in shape and keep blood circulations going. Of course, Marcus had many things he could tell her, but he started her off with a couple basic exercises and posture techniques that would help Annie.

As exhausted as Annie was after physical therapy, she knew she had more to accomplish after her session with Marcus, she had a daily living lesson at 11am. Annie's new determination during her session was a surprise for Christina. None of her therapists had seen her be so positive in the previous four days she had been there. Annie preformed all of the exercises given to her with the same level passion and strength that she had once used to learn martial arts from Auggie. This new Annie's attitude was a remarkable 180 from what had been seen the three days prior. Today's repetitive task for Annie from Christina was putting on pants. Of course, this slightly annoyed Annie, since she had explicitly avoided this task this morning because it was so time consuming. Nonetheless, Annie still completed the assigned tasks with hard work and seemingly limitless determination.

After working with Christina, Annie went to lunch in the cafeteria and she found herself in such a great mood that she gravitated herself to a table with two other patients.

"Can I sit with your guys" Annie asked as she approached the table with her tray on her lap.

"Of course." A slender dark haired African American man around 35 years old answered.

Annie put her tray on the table where two of her fellow patients sat. Then she pushed her wheelchair up under the table, locked the wheels and began unwrapping her silverware.

"Hi, I'm Annie. Thanks for letting me sit with you." Annie said a bit sheepishly. It had been forever since she went up to strangers without intending to get information from them for the CIA. She felt out of practice on normal social pleasantries.

"My name is Amber and this is Seth." A woman of about 30 answered. Her pixie cut blond hair reminded Annie of an older Tinker Bell.

"It is nice to meet you both." Annie responded as she began eating her meal. She had to admit, the food around here was surprisingly good. For sure not like typical hospital food. Today she had a turkey club sandwich, potato salad, fresh fruit and a warm chocolate chip cookie. Annie chooses to have water to drink for every meal except breakfast, but she is careful not to drink too much. Annie is learning that routine is best.

"So what brings you to our lovely facility Annie?" Seth asked without warning as Annie took a bit of her sandwich.

"Ummm." Annie began as she swallowed down the only slightly chewed bit of sandwich.

"Seth! You can't just ask people things like that," Amber scolded Seth as if he were a child.

"Why not? What else are we supposed to talk about, the weather? Sports? Please, you know me better than that." Seth replied bluntly.

"I do. But Annie does not. Annie hasn't been here very long. I'm sure she doesn't want to talk about how she got to be here." 

"It's okay guys." Annie started. "We have to get used to these questions, right? I mean, once I'm out of here, I have to be back in the real world, around people who knew me before." Luckily, Joan, Auggie, and Annie had already thought of a cover story for how and why Annie was shot.

"See?" said Seth. "She doesn't mind."

"I was standing in line at a grocery store when two guys came in with guns to rob the place. My father was in the military, so I knew how to shoot well and always have a gun with me. Unfortunately, one of the robbers got his shots off before I could get any off. He shot me twice. Once in the chest, and once in the lower back. I suffered a T-2 injury to my spine, leaving me with the great parting gift of new wheels. I spent weeks in the hospital and had to endure two surgeries. My heart is still pretty weak and well, the injury to my spine seems to be permanent. No feeling from about my belly button down. And they don't seem to think I will talk again."

"Wow, and I thought I had a story with my bike crash." Amber stated matter of factly after finishing her meal. "It was very brave of you to try to stop the robbers. Were they ever caught?"

"Oh, yes. It is quite a story." Annie said. If you only knew the real story she added in her head, smiling at herself. She felt comfortable around Amber and Seth. They understood what she was going through.

"Well, I was in a car accident. My buddy was driving. He walked away without a scratch. But well, me, they say I'll never walk again as well. My spine was completely broke. No hope of repair. I was in the hospital for two months in a back brace while it healed. The bones healed, but the nerves in the spinal cord will never be repaired. I've been here for three weeks. I've almost mastered everything they have to teach us." Seth said proudly. Annie got the feeling that Seth had been quite a successful man in his former life before his accident. He was confident now. Perhaps he would continue to be successful in his "life after paralysis".

"Well, I have to get back to my room and get ready for a doctor's appointment. I'm supposed to be out front for my ride at 1:30pm. I don't know why the doctors can't come to us. Why do we have to make the journey to them?" Annie complained realizing she was among friends who could relate.

"I know what you mean. There are doctors on staff here, but I think your heart condition might give them reason to want to see you at another facility. You will get used to it all. But that's life as a paraplegic. The constant doctors and therapists appointments will slack off considerably after a while. I hope your appointment goes well." Amber said cheerfully as they all took their trays to the dish line and headed to their respective rooms. Annie liked Amber and Seth. Perhaps this process wouldn't be so bad after all.

Annie headed back to her room. She was grateful that she already had a doctor's appointment on the books before the feeling started again. Waiting for an appointment to come open would have been torturous. She had not had any more sensations in her lower extremities today, but that did not cause her to lose hope. She didn't think it would all come back at one time. She wanted so badly to call Auggie to tell him the good news. But she also wanted to make sure this was all for real and not in her head. She knew that people who lost limbs could have phantom pains where their limbs had been after they were gone. Or people could wish something to be true so hard that their mind actually convinced it self it was true. But this did not seem like either of those cases. The feeling felt real. The pain had been real. But Annie had to be sure.


End file.
